Pokemon BW2 - How To Save A Life
by Lunaculus
Summary: In the beginning of his very own pokemon journey, Kyohei meets a mysterious trainer. A trainer who looks a lot like him and seems to be... scarred somehow. Blacksquareshipping/implied Isshushipping
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic started of as a Secret Santa event gift for the username Pirra at deviantArt. I got excited with the idea though and decided to make it a little longer.

So uhm... yeah. I hope you like this fic. Please keep in mind that I haven't played Pokemon BW2, so I'm improvising most of the time. :'D

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1.

_"The only way to have a friend is to be one."_  
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

_So... this is Aspertia City._  
A lone figure stood by the gateway to Route 119, looking around in wonder. His brown eyes were curious but also held a dark shadow to them, a shadow indicating that he wasn't just any rookie trainer with a team of six patrats. No – he was experienced and had seen much during his life. So much that sometimes he would feel the pain of some of the memories drag him within the depths of Distortion World. His clothes consisted a blue hoodie with a long collar, a black, white and red cap with the oh-so-common pokeball print on the front of it, a pair of simple black trousers and nice and comfy running shoes.

A small squeal was heard as the larvesta on the trainer's shoulder moved a little in order to get a better view. The trainer smiled at the creature, petting it absentmindedly while feeding on the sight of the city as well. He had heard much about this place, but it had taken him two years to finally gather his courage and pay the place a visit. The reason why he hadn't traveled there earlier was simple: despite the fact that he had never been there before, there were too many memories in that place. After all, two of his good past friends now lived there.

It wasn't like he hated his friends or anything. He was just afraid of meeting them. Meeting them after having just disappeared from their lives to travel around the region. He was sure that they would both be furious at him if they ever saw him lingering around the place right after they had given up on their wishes to ever see their friend again. The trainer could almost imagine the screams of both joy and anger and he shivered at the thought. It would be better to just keep a low profile and stay out of their sight. That wouldn't be too hard in a big city like this now, wouldn't it?  
"I'm free! Route 119, here I come!"

That happy voice snapped the trainer out of his thoughts and he turned to gaze at a cheerful-looking young boy who was running towards him. The boy looked incredibly much like the trainer: he had brown eyes too, as well as messy brown hair that was sticking out from the top of his cap. His clothing was way more tidy than the trainer's though. The sight couldn't be mistaken: the boy had to be a newborn trainer.

Before either one of the guys could think enough to move out of the other's way, the messy-haired boy bumped into the older guy and made them both fall over on the tiled street. For a moment the two just stared at each other straight in the eyes, surprised at how similar they looked. Were they both just looking into a mirror? It sure felt like they had been.

The larvesta that had been on the older trainer's shoulder now hissed in discomfort and glared at the rookie furiously. Muttering apologies the messy-haired brunette stood up and offered his hand to the older guy in order to help him up as well. The guy took the hand silently and stood up as well.  
"Sorry about that", the rookie laughed out nervously. "I was so excited that I didn't notice you, sir."  
"No need to be so formal", the older guy laughed back and rubbed the back of his head. It was now aching a little. "Makes me feel like I'm some grumpy grandpa."  
"Haha..."

There was an awkward silence as the older guy bent over to pick up the cap that had fallen off his head. The larvesta on the trainer's shoulder was still shooting angry glares at the rookie, but was slowly starting to calm down. The younger boy looked at the pokemon with great curiosity and patiently waited for the other brunette to put his cap back on before asking:  
"Is that your pokemon?"  
"One of them", came the reply. The older trainer smiled a little. "I've got others as well."

A grin rose to decorate the rookie's lips.  
"Oh, you're a trainer too?" he asked before taking a pokeball from his pocket. "Battle me!"  
The older boy lifted his eyebrow in amuse at the request. He smirked faintly.  
"...you sure you want that?" he asked to confirm and the other snorted.  
"Well duh. We already made eye contact and all. I think we should go with the protocol. And I need to train my tepig anyways."  
The older trainer sighed quietly but decided to fulfill the boy's request nevertheless. He shrugged.  
"Fine then. Just don't tell me I didn't warn you."

The two brunettes gained a couple curious glances from the people passing by as the messy-haired boy let his pokemon out of its pokeball. The tepig seemed more than excited to get to battle and it skipped around, stomping its little feet in impatience. The older trainer reached his bag for a pokeball as well, releasing his most treasured pokemon. His very starter.  
"Come on out, Serperior."  
The faint green, enormous red-eyed snake faced the tiny tepig fearlessly with a smug expression on its slender face. This was its challenger? The serperior was slightly disappointed at his opponent, but faced the fire-type nevertheless with a bit of reluctance.

The messy-haired rookie gulped at the sight of the final form, causing the older trainer to smirk.  
"You might have the type advantage", the guy chuckled. "But I'll be easy on you. After all, you weren't expecting this, were you?"  
The other's attitude annoyed the rookie a little, causing him to flinch and grit his teeth. He grinned back at the other male with determination in his chocolate eyes.  
"No need to do that", he announced. "Me and tepig will do just fine. Right, mate?"  
The little piggy let out an excited sound and puffed some smoke out of its nose, telling his trainer that he was ready.

Even more curious people started appearing all around the two trainers. The brunettes both stared at each other as if to read each others minds. Their pokemon did the same. Just then, the older guy smirked and commanded his serperior:  
"Use Calm Mind."  
The giant snake did as told, closing its eyes and concentrating deeply. This didn't seem like anything too dangerous to the rookie, so he decided to let his partner attack.  
"Tepig", he called out. "Tackle!"  
The little piggy dashed towards its opponent with quite a notable speed, crashing against the serperior's body with its own. The snake didn't seem to mind the tepig trying to tackle him, just stood there, doing just what his trainer had told him to do: calming his mind.

This went on for a while. The older trainer told the serperior to use Calm Mind for a couple times while the tepig kept on attacking the snake. The rookie trainer was starting to get worried by the other brunette's actions and bit his lip, telling his tepig to stop.  
"There's something wrong..."  
The older trainer grinned.  
"What's the matter?" he asked with a mildly mocking tone. "Getting scared?"  
"Not an option", the messy-haired boy lied. "I just can't see any sense in a one-sided fight."  
"You'll see the point of this soon enough", the older trainer replied and chuckled. "Serperior. Leaf Tornado."

With a one whip of its tail, the grass type summoned a big whirlwind for its assistance. The wind was carrying lots of razor-edged leaves and as the miniature storm hit the tepig, the leaves hit it and cut small wounds all around its body. Due to the small size of the fire-type, the poor piggy went flying against one of the walls of the nearby buildings. I let out a small, weak sound before falling on the ground, unable to stand up.  
"Tepig!"

The rookie rushed to his injured companion, lifting him up on his arms. His brown eyes roamed around the pig's body checking the level of injuries. The wounds were small, and the bruises didn't look so bad. It was like the older trainer had said – the older guy had went easy on them. The rookie sighed and turned around, searching his pocket for his wallet but the other brunette gestured with his hand that there was no need to.  
"...but the policies-", the messy-haired boy started but he silenced as the older guy smiled at him.  
"Forget it. Save your money. You'll need it, believe me", he said returning his serperior to its pokeball. He walked to the other boy and offered him his hand. "Just a friendly advice. Never forget the stat-moves. They'll help you a lot."

Surprised by how kind the older guy was, the rookie blushed a little. He took the other brunette's hand, shaking it uncertainly.  
"Thanks... I'm Kyohei."  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Touya."  
The two trainers smiled at each other in a slightly tense fashion. There was a short silence when Kyohei returned his tepig to its pokeball and hid the pokeball in his pocket.  
"You're really strong. You must have trained for a long time", the messy-haired boy sighed, scratching the back of his head. He was still blushing a little. Perhaps it was the embarrassment of being beaten so easily that caused that.

Touya smirked and patted the boy's shoulder. He had just came up with the nicest idea.  
"Maybe I could be of use to you. I could teach you a couple tricks. Be your mentor", he suggested. He wouldn't mind having some human company after having been alone with pokemon for such a long time. And since he was too afraid to meet up with his old friends, he figured he might as well make some new ones. Kyohei's face brightened when he heard the suggestion and he blinked in surprise.  
"R-really? You mean it?" he gasped. The older trainer nod, causing the other to let out a cheerful "woo". "That would be awesome! Thank you!"  
"No problem", Touya laughed out. "Right now you should get to a Pokemon Center though. I did go easy on your tepig but he's still fainted, so you really should make sure he's okay."  
"Right", the messy-haired boy stated and walked past his new friend, then turning to him with a smile. "Come on, _sensei_! I wanna show you around!"


	2. Chapter 2

_"Great souls suffer in silence."_  
~Friedrich von Schiller

After a quick visit to the Pokemon Center, Kyohei did indeed give Touya a tour around the town. The older trainer was soon amazed by how different the place was from his own hometown and smiled at the beautiful surroundings. Despite the deep in his heart he was still frightened of the fact that he could accidentally bump into his friends, Touya truly did feel at peace in that beautiful town.

It was the outlook that caused Touya to feel the most amazed. The view there was amazing and every now and then the wind would blow fall-colored leaves past the two brunettes, dancing in the air like ballerinas. Even though the wind was cold and reminded both of the guys of the upcoming winter, it was really not a problem seeing that they both had a warm fire-type helping them keep warm. So they both held their pokemon on their arms, Touya his larversta and Kyohei his tepig in order to warm up a little as they watched the beautiful scenery. It was almost like watching a sea of fire with all the colors of the fall dyeing the trees like flames.

"So what brings you to Aspertia anyway, Touya?"  
The question startled the older trainer somewhat and he bit his lip.  
"It's quite a long story", he replied to the other brunette and petted the white fur of his larvesta. "One of the reasons is that the wild pokemon here are not quite so strong and I was thinking of training my larvesta."  
Kyohei's chocolate eyes gazed at Touya with utmost curiosity.  
"Any other reasons?" he asked. "We have a lot of time."  
"...well..."  
There was a short silence of patient waiting. The older trainer sighed deeply and looked up to the blue skies.  
"I have a friend who moved here recently."  
The rookie nod, thinking he understood. But he didn't.  
"So you're here to meet that friend?"  
"Not really. It's complicated."

Kyohei bit his lip, not saying anything for a long while. It was just like he had thought – that older trainer truly was mysterious. You could tell that the other had way more experience in life that he had. It fascinated the rookie. He wanted to know more, wanted to learn the secrets behind those brown eyes that were almost identical to his own. And learn he would. This trainer had promised to teach him how to train his pokemon well.

That was when Kyohei snapped out of his thoughts to a sudden realization. He had someone else who had promised to teach him things, too. And that certain someone was waiting for him.  
"Mewdammit!" he cussed and returned his tepig in its pokeball. "I'm sorry for this, Touya, but could you please come with me? I have an appointment which I totally forgot!"  
The older trainer blinked in surprise but soon enough nod.  
"Sure. I don't mind", he replied and as soon as Kyohei started running down from the outlook, he followed.

And they ran, dashed through the gate to Route 119 where Kyohei immediately run to a figure that was standing near the tall grass with a large green hat on top of her short blonde hair.  
"I'm so sorry Ms. Bianca!" the boy apologized sincerely and bowed a little. "I hope you didn't wait for too long."  
The woman folded her arms and eyed Kyohei up and down but smiled in the end.  
"It's nothing. I'm sure you have a good explanation for taking so long", she stated.  
The rookie brunette nod.  
"In a matter of fact I do. I met someone who promised to help me on my journey", he cheerily replied.  
Bianca seemed more than delighted to hear the news.  
"Ah, so you made new friends already? That's wonderful!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands together. "I'm kinda sad you didn't take your new friend with you though. It would have been nice to get to know someone new."

Kyohei opened his mouth in confusion and spun around as quick as he could, looking behind him. No Touya anywhere in sight. The brunette opened and closed his mouth a couple times like a magikarp on dry land.  
"I-I... He was following me just a minute ago!" he then muttered and looked around. In a couple seconds he slammed his palm against his face. "Don't tell me... he got lost?!"  
Bianca was just as confused as Kyohei and walked to the brunette, looking at him as if to find an answer.  
"Your friend isn't a local?" she asked.  
Kyohei shook his head.  
"He told me he'd never been to Aspertia before."

The blond and the brunette looked at each other, considering what would be the best option to do in this situation. Finally the rookie trainer granted Bianca an apologizing smile.  
"I better go look for him", he sighed. "I guess your lesson will have to wait until then."  
"It's okay, Kyohei", the woman replied and patted the boy's shoulder. "It's important to take care of your friends. And maybe I can be of help in your search. Two pairs of eyes is always better than one, right?"  
"Thanks", the chocolate eyed boy smiled and went to the gate with Bianca following him.

The whole idea of Touya having gotten lost during such a short walk from the outlook to the gate was quite absurd but still possible. It confused Kyohei, but most of all worried. He had just gotten a new friend and already gotten him in trouble. He shouldn't have ran so fast. He should have waited for the other boy. He should have-  
"What does your friend look like?"

Kyohei stopped for a moment to explain the details to Bianca.  
"Brown hair, brown eyes. Not quite as messy as mine. He carries a larvesta around and wears a blue hoodie and a red and white cap."  
The blond woman memorized the details and froze. Her green eyes went wide and his grip on his emerald back tightened.  
"That sounds like... did he happen to wear black trousers too? What pokemon did he have, other than the larvesta?"  
"Uhm", Kyohei scratched his head. "A serperior, at least. I don't really know about any others."  
Bianca's face was now pale.  
"His... his name. What was it?" she asked with a wavering voice.  
The reactions caused Kyohei to freeze as well. Oh dear. Was Bianca the friend Touya had spoken to him about? And if she was... should he tell her about him? The brunette bit his lip in nervousness. This wasn't good.  
"...was it Touya?"  
Kyouhei closed his eyes and nod reluctantly while repeating endless apologies to Touya in his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain."

~Helen Keller

The sky towards which Touya's eyes were gazing was bright with only a couple milky white clouds sailing past his vision. The yellowish flowers around him were moving in the light breeze that went across route 19 and the pollen was making the brunette's nose itch. He had to hold his breath not to sneeze and give away his location.

The hiding place wasn't the best one you could find but that would have to do for now. Touya still wasn't ready to face his friends and as soon as he had recognized Kyouhei's mentor to be Bianca, he had panicked. Before he even knew it, he had jumped over the nearby fence and dashed right into the patch of flowers that was waiting behind it. And now he just tried his best to lay low and listened to Kyohei and Bianca talk.

"I better go look for him."

"Maybe I can be of help in your search. Two pairs of eyes is always better than one, right?"

As soon as the brunette couldn't hear the duo's voices anymore, he sat up and checked if the coast was really clear. Not a sign of them. He sighed deeply and muttered his apologies to his larvesta, which he had silenced by holding his hand over its mouth. The pokemon glared at its trainer and shot a small ember from one of its bright scarlet horns at his arm. Touya gritted his teeth at the pain but laughed out soon after.

"Haha... I guess I deserved that. Sorry for not warning you."

Not bothering to stay mad for long, the larvesta climbed back on the boy's shoulder. Touya stood up, cleaning some dust off his clothes and glancing at the road.

"I'm sorry, Kyouhei", he whispered quietly with a slight frown of sorrow. Why did he have to be such a coward? He had just managed to finally make a new friend and already screwed up. Made that kid worry. Not to mention that if Kyohei would blab about him to Bianca, the girl would probably freak out.

Complete silence surrounded Touya. He kicked the ground gently with his foot. His emotion darkened together with his thoughts. He had always been a bother. His mother had stopped her career as a trainer when he was born. After dad had left the woman had taken care of the brunette all by herself. And Bianca and Cheren... Touya was a bother to them too, hiding and running from them like a pathetic little rattata. He was a bother to the Elite Four by not doing his job as the Champion. And most of all... he had been a bother to a certain person he had cared very much for.

No amount of forgiveness would be enough to put out the boiling regret that tortured him within every day because of what he had done, almost like a part of him was always in the depths of Distortion World, suffering. The brunette laughed out. It had been foolish of him to even try and make new friends. He only caused pain to everyone, after all. Maybe it would be better for everyone if he just disappeared for good, abandoned everything.

A sudden cry that echoed from the nearby forest snapped Touya out of his thoughts. The brown eyes looked around, turning to stare into the shadows of the woods as soon as the larvesta on the brunette's shoulder started growling. Something was near. Something bad. Touya listened carefully as the helpless cries became more desperate and frightened, soon accompanied by low growls. There must have been a fight going on. Perhaps a pokemon had accidentally went to another pokemon's territory?

Without a second thought, Touya headed into the woods. The larvesta on his shoulder just kept on growling. It wasn't afraid, but it was clear that it disliked this situation. Its trainer didn't care though – he was busy searching for the pokemon that were causing all this ruckus. Might as well break off the fight. It's not like Touya could go back to Aspertia anyways.

Soon enough the brunette found what he was looking for: a group of angry-looking patrats assaulting a pokemon that Touya couldn't at first recognize. It was a fluffy little creature with a furry tail and collar of the color silver. The trainer frowned and searched his bag for his pokedex, but just then the mysterious pokemon was struck down by one of the patrats. The normal-type glared at the pitiful little ball of fur that was now whimpering in pain and got ready for the last strike... and that was when Touya decided he couldn't just stand there and watch.

"Gothitelle! Help that little guy out! Hypnosis!"

With a burst of light, the human-like psychic type came out of its pokeball and faced the patrats fearlessly. The rodents turned towards the new opponent in surprise, only to soon fall on the ground under the stare of the gothitelle's furious, blue eyes. The forest was now filled with the sound of countless patrats snoring. Touya rushed to the gray colored pokemon and held it in his arms.

"There shouldn't be any pokemon like this around this area... what on earth are you doing here? Were you abandoned?"

As there was no answer other than a weak whine, Touya sighed and bit his lip. He needed to get this pokemon to a pokecenter. Now. The problem was that there was still quite a way to go before Floccesy Town and Bianca and Kyohei were in Aspertia looking for him. All of that wouldn't have mattered so much right now if the pokemon in his embrace wouldn't have looked like it was about to faint any second now. Poor thing probably had internal bleeding. Potions wouldn't really be of help now.

"...Arceus. Fuck it", Touya finally grumbled to himself and started running towards Aspertia.

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A/N: I was really surprised to get so many readers so fast! x'D

Thanks for all your nice reviews and thanks for taking time and reading this fic. I'll try my best to update this often, but do keep in mind that I still have school to go to as well as countless other projects I need to finish. Either way, thanks. :D You made my day 3


	4. Chapter 4

_"A bad cold wouldn't be so annoying if it weren't for the advice of our friends."_  
~Kin Hubbard

"Kyohei... let's have a quick rest, shall we?"  
The rookie trainer turned to glance at the blond lady walking behind her. They had been looking for Touya for about two hours or so now and it was easy to tell that Bianca was starting to get tired. Kyohei was still desperate to find Touya as soon as possible but couldn't help but take pity on how miserable the green-eyed woman looked. Besides, Bianca seemed just as eager to find his long lost friend. If not even more eager than Kyohei. After her long journey all the way from Nuvema to Aspertia... no wonder she was tired. The brunette sighed deeply and scratched his head.  
"Yeah", he muttered. "I guess we shouldn't overdo it. It's not even getting dark yet so there's no rush."  
Bianca nod in gratitude and the two started heading to the Pokemon Center.

There was a long silence. Kyohei was deep in his thoughts, trying to imagine how mad Touya would be at him for having babbled about him being here. He had a desperate need to apologize the other trainer. It felt like he had a burden on his shoulders. Like he was a crustle.  
"You're still worried about him, aren't you?"  
Bianca's voice woke the rookie up from his thoughts and he replied with a simple nod. The lady smiled warmly and hummed.  
"He just is like that. Makes people worry about himself. I think he does that without knowing it", she said. "He doesn't mean any harm. Maybe he simply doesn't quite understand just how important he is to his friends."  
Despite the fact that Bianca was trying her best to hide it, the slight bitterness was still audible in her voice. It caused Kyohei to turn his eyes to stare at his feet. Maybe he had been in the wrong thinking that he shouldn't tell the girl about Touya after all. Maybe he had did the right thing telling her. Poor woman. It was clear that she missed him.

As soon as they got to the Pokemon Center they both met a great surprise though – they saw Touya sitting there in a table near the reception desk. Bianca froze for a brief moment while Kyohei immediately dashed to the other brunette, smiling in relief to see the trainer was okay.  
"Touya!"  
The older trainer lifted his eye off his lap and glanced at the two arrivals, first at Kyohei with a smile then biting his lip as he noticed Bianca. An awkward silence occurred as the two childhood friends stared at each other.  
"...Bianca."  
"...Tou... ya..."

The blond took a couple uncertain steps forward. Touya waited patiently and as soon as the girl got close enough to touch him, she lifted her trembling hand up and simply caressed the trainer's cheek with her fingertips. Her light green eyes were glazed by tears and her mouth was left a hint open to allow her breathe steadily.  
"Is that... is that really you?"  
Touya forced a smile and nod. Bianca flinched for a second before attacking her friend with a hug, sobbing as she did so. The brunette just sat there, receiving the hug but not returning it. His eyes closed half-ways as he frowned in regret.  
So much to apologize.

It took some time for Bianca to finally be able to control her sobs. The girl wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her orange jacket and looked up at her friend.  
"We... we thought you were dead. Cheren and I. Even your mother."  
She laughed out nervously and smiled widely before continuing. "I'm so glad you're okay."  
Touya lowered his head submissive manner.  
"...I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. The important thing is that you're okay", Bianca replied, still teary-eyed. "Thank Arceus for that."

Kyohei, who had started to feel like he was a third wheel in this scenario, cleared his throat to gain the duo's attention.  
"So... what happened? We were looking for you. I thought you had gotten lost", he asked Touya.  
The older brunette looked up and rubbed the back of his neck.  
"I saw a pokemon that was hurt", he muttered, only lying partially. "So I brought it here. I'm sorry I didn't inform you."  
"Ah, so that was the case", Kyohei said with a smirk. "It's okay. I think we'd better exchange Xtransceiver numbers though, just so I won't get confused again."  
"Sure", Touya replied and allowed Kyohei to sit next to him in order for them to register each other's numbers.

After the short exchanging ritual, Bianca beamed at the older brunette with a brightest smile.  
"Anyway, I bet Cheren is going to be overjoyed when he hears you're okay! And your mother, too! We have to inform them right away."  
The look on Touya's face darkened and he bit his lip.  
"Actually... I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this whole thing to them", he murmured.  
The blond girl blinked in surprise and tilted her head.  
"Why not?"  
"I... I want to break it to them myself when I think it's the right time", the trainer explained. "I don't want them to start looking for me."  
Bianca lowered his head.  
"So... what you need is some time to think about it?"  
"I-"  
"You got to be kidding me."

The way Kyohei suddenly interrupted the conversation after having been silent for a long while startled both Bianca and Touya. The two turned to look at the boy who was now gritting his teeth and looking annoyed. His hands were clenched to fists.  
"After having been hiding from them for... what, years... you need time to think it through?!" the young brunette growled, laughing out joylessly. "You had your time already. Now just face them like a man or die a coward."  
Touya stared at Kyohei for a while before shaking his head.  
"It's not that simple."  
"Then what is so damn difficult about it? What in the name of Arceus could have happened that has made you be afraid of your own friends?"  
"I-"

Another interruption, this time a happy one. Nurse Joy was standing right next to the table and smiling sweetly as she always did.  
"Sir, your pokemon has been successfully healed and patched up", she announced to Touya. "She's still sleeping but you can come see her now if you want to."  
The older brunette blinked and then smiled at the pink haired nurse.  
"Ah. Thank you", he replied and stood up. "I'll come check up on her."  
He then turned to face Bianca.  
"In a matter of fact, I'd like you to come with me, Bianca. There's something I want to know about that pokemon and being Professor Juniper's assistant, I think you might know better."  
The blond simply nod and stood up as well. The two followed Nurse Joy to the recovery room, soon accompanied by a reluctant Kyohei.

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_A/N: _Omg even more people are actually following this fic now. :'D I'm overjoyed~

Thank you, everyone. :3 I'd love to hear your opinions on the plot and how it seems so far, so please do send me reviews. I want to improve! :D 3


	5. Chapter 5

_"A burnt child dreads the fire."_  
~Unknown

The furry little creature lay on a small hospital bed, one of its paws wrapped up in bandages. It was fast asleep and seemed to be resting calmly without disturbance despite the people around it. It fur wasn't that messy anymore – apparently Nurse Joy had cleaned the worst bloodstains off. Even though the pokemon seemed to feel a lot better now after treatment, Touya couldn't help but frown in slight worry. It would probably take some time for the creature to fully heal nevertheless. The worst case scenario was that the pokemon was traumatized for life. Touya sincerely prayed the legendaries that it wouldn't be the case.

The brunette wasn't the only one frowning. Bianca investigated the creature with great interest, a hint of confusion in her green eyes. She ended up biting her knuckle with a small sigh, still eyeing the pokemon.  
"I'm not certain", she murmured. "but it really does look a lot like an eevee."  
"An eevee?" Touya questioned. "But aren't they usually-"  
"Brown, yes", the blond woman replied instantly and shook her head. "And that's why I'm uncertain about it. I've never seen a silver colored eevee before. Not to mention that there shouldn't be any wild eevees around this area. There shouldn't be any in Unova in general."  
"So", Kyohei pondered out loud. "What you're trying to say is that we've got here a rare pokemon in a form that you've never seen before? Why don't we just catch it?"  
"It's not that simple", Bianca sighed, shaking her head. "Seeing that there isn't any wild eevees found anywhere in Unova, this little buddy must have been brought here by someone who lives outside Unova. Probably in Kanto region. If that is the case, this eevee is already someone else's pokemon and thus we can't just catch it. It'd be stealing."

There was a short silence when Touya stepped closer to the weird pokemon, gently placing his hand on its fluffy chest to feel the small heart beat within. The look in his eyes was distant, as if the boy had gotten lost in his own thoughts.  
"I'm thinking… maybe it was abandoned."  
"Who on earth would abandon such a rare pokemon?" Kyohei murmured, shaking his head in disbelief. "It doesn't make any sense."  
The taller brunette glanced at the rookie from the corner of his eye. He frowned.  
"Why would anyone abandon pokemon in general? I'm presumin that's the question you really wanted to ask", he corrected. Kyohei closed his mouth and lowered his head, staying quiet. Bianca touched Touya's shoulder worriedly, her eyes still on the poor little furry creature.  
"You might be right. It seems to be in a bad shape. She's smaller than an average eevee and she keeps her ears low even when she's sleeping. Like she was frightened."

For a while the three of them just watched the normal-type sleep. In about a minute or so, Bianca took a step away from the others, heading to the door.  
"Either way, I'd better contact professor Juniper about this and ask if she knows more", she said with a small smile. "It's also getting quite late and I'm still tired from the journey here. I think I need a good night sleep for a change."  
Kyohei nod, then biting his lip a little in dissapointment.  
"So… the lesson on catching pokemon will have to wait for tomorrow?"  
The blond granted the kid a smile of apology as she nod.  
"It seems so… If you're in a hurry to get to catch your first pokemon, I'm sure Touya can help you out", she replied, turning on her heels to leave. "It was nice seeing you at last, Touya."

Having said that, the young woman left the room. Both Touya and Kyohei simply stood there in an awkward silence, waiting for each other to speak up. Touya was the one to break the spell with a deep sigh.  
"I'll ask Nurse Joy if I can take eevee away from the pokecenter already", he said. "I'll show you how to catch a pokemon tonight but I can't just leave this little buddy behind."  
Kyohei smiled a little for once.  
"No no no… You don't need to-"  
"You ran around the town looking for me and showed me around today. The least I can do is to return the favor."  
The rookie hesitated a while, biting his lip and switching his weight.  
"Alright. But only if it's okay for the eevee. Her health is what matters the most right now."

Nodding in response, Touya went off to look for Nurse Joy while Kyohei was left alone with the eevee. He knelt next to the medical bed leaning his head on its edge watching the creature resting on it. The silver-like fur was almost like it was covered in glitter, shimmering and shining in the clear lights. It was quite weird seeing how the pokemon was otherwise so badly groomed. Either way the ball of fur was sleeping tight, her big round eyes hidden behind their lids and her tail wrapped around her lowly fed, fragile body as if it was trying to use Defense Curl

Kyohei closed his eyes and fell in his thoughts. Touya. The first image he had gotten about that guy was true: he really was mysterious. Why would he refuse to meet his old childhood friend and his own mother? What sort of thing would make a person feel a need to stay away from those who loved him? Kyohei could only imagine what had happened. It must have been something horrible. Like a death or an accident. Whatever the cause might be, Kyohei felt his curiosity raise its head. Just like back at the outlook. Back there he had thought of the possibility that this whole avoiding thing was caused by Touya's friends, not the guy himself. But after seeing how Bianca reacted to hearing about the trainer being in Aspertia… no, that couldn't be it.

The rookie soon slipped to the edge of dream and being awake. Just when he was about to fall asleep he was startled by a shrill scream though. The brown eyes flew open immediately, glancing around for what had caused the sudden sound. When Kyouhei glanced at the formerly sleeping figure on the hospital bed, he noticed that the eevee wasn't sleeping anymore. It was very much awake and seemed frightened, staring straight at the brunette with its bright icy blue eyes. Out of instict, the rookie trainer backed away and took a deep breath, raising his hands as if to surrender.  
"H-hey little one… calm down, I don't mean any harm", he laughed out nervously.

The eevee didn't seem convinced. It shivered in fear, backing further away from Kyohei as well until it stumbled down, off the hospital bed. A small whimper echoed through the recovery room. Kyohei flinched and hurried to see if the normal-type was okay but only caused it to panic again as soon as it saw him approaching. It shook its head in order to get rid of the pain then dashing away past Kyohei's feet to the other side of the room. It hid itself behind some blue curtains it found right next to a window, thinking it was finally safe. Just then it noticed the bandages wrapped on its paw. Without knowing what they were, it grabbed the fabric with its teeth and started pulling at it to try and get it off.  
"You shouldn't do that…!"

The curtain was pulled aside. Kyohei tried to grab the eevee but failed as it ran away, looking for a better hiding place. The rookie rolled his eyes in frustration. Damn that stubborn little creature.  
"I'm just trying to help you!" he growled and followed the normal-type that had now decided to hide under the hospital bed it had been sleeping on. Kyohei sighed and peeked under the bed. That was when Touya came back with Nurse Joy.  
"…what's happening here?" the nurse asked and tilted her head in confusion. "Where's the eevee?"  
"She woke up", Kyohei replied and gave up trying to reach the ball of silvery fur. Instead he lifted his head up, hitting it on the edge of the bed in process. A couple curses went past his lips. "I think it got scared or something. Now it refuses to come out."

Both Touya and Nurse Joy lowered themselves to see the eevee. The pokemon faced them with frightened eyes, lowering its ears and attempting a growl that would chase the humans away. Joy frowned and glanced at Touya.  
"You're her trainer, right? Could you calm her down?"  
The brunette shook his head, biting his lip.  
"Actually I found her from the woods nearby. I think she was abandoned."  
"That explains it", the pink haired woman murmured to herself, stroking her chin. "I was wondering why she was so thin… she must have had a traumatic experience not long ago."

The normal-type tore at its bandages again. Soon enough the poor thing stumbled on the floor due to its feet giving out on it, probably out of exhaustion or pain. Nurse Joy called out her chansey and told it to use sing on the eevee. When the furball was fast asleep, the nurse crawled to get it from under the bed, setting it once more on the bed to rest.  
"Is there anything we can do for her?" Touya asked. Joy hesitated a couple seconds before answering.  
"If it has been abused before, it probably won't trust trainers", she sighed. "Taking care of her will be a lot of trouble… I'll treat her here for the time being, but she can't stay forever."

Everyone in the room silenced to think about the eevee's fate. Such a beautiful and rare creature, yet it had to go through all of this. It was a pity. Touya sighed. He would have otherwise taken the little creature in with pleasure but he already had a full team. There was no way he'd just leave the normal-type in a box either. Kyohei saw this from the older brunette's eyes and frowned, determination glinting in his own chocolate eyes.  
That little ball of fur… it reminded him about something.  
It reminded him about himself.  
"…I'll take care of her."

The words came out without a single trace of doubt. Nurse Joy lifted her eyebrow at the promise and eyed the rookie.  
"You do realise how much effort it takes to raise a pokemon with a post-traumatic stress disorder?" she questioned. Kyohei nod, looking at the normal-type with both pity and sincere care in his gaze.  
"But it'll be worth it", he replied. "She has probably gone through much shit. I can relate. That's why I want to show her that there are also many beautiful things in the world."  
"You still have your tepig to raise", Touya reminded. "It'll be tough."  
"I don't mind", Kyohei said and was now forming a smile. "I'm sure tepig will help me with the eevee. We'll be a team."  
"It's settled then", Nurse Joy hummed and smiled in relief. "From now on, this eevee belongs to you. Congratulations on your adoption!"

* * *

A/N: Okay, before you say anything: I KNOW EEVEES ARE OVER RATED AND MAINSTREAM.  
But the fact that it's an eevee that Touya found holds a significant symbolic role in the plot later on.  
As to why it's a shiny... well, I wanted to try adapting the whole shiny pokemon thing to my writing and explain their existence somehow. It also adds a nice dramatic effect to the whole abandoned pokemon thing. Who would abandon a shiny pokemon, not to mention a shiny eevee in particular?

Oh, and it seems I've been getting more and more faves and followers too. Thank you guys! :D 3


	6. Chapter 6

_"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust."_  
~Dr. Samuel Johnson

It was already dark when the two trainers got outside of the town to Route 119. The night air smelled moist, predicting that it would probably rain tomorrow. The wildlife was quiet, almost as if it was holding its breath though everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm. Soon the nocturnal would rise from their nests and hiding places to fill the night with silent echoes of their thrilled cries. The moon was about to rise as well, its pale banana shape already peeking at the world from the horizon together with some dark clouds.

The trainers didn't waste time in setting up a camp. Without bothering to talk much, Kyohei got his tent out of his bag and started setting it ready. Touya helped the best he could, every now and then glancing at the shiny eevee that was still peacefully resting, now on top of a small pile of blankets built near where they would build their camp. When they were done they both sat down on the yellowish grass and gazed upon the skies, watching in silence as the stars slowly started to appear and then disappear as the clouds started to conquer the black velvet. Almost like a spell had been cast upon the world to wake up the night critters, some pokemon started to clumsily gather around the route.  
"Tell me your story."

The demand was spoken out with quiet words, yet firm and commanding. Touya glance at Kyohei in a bit of shock then simply sighing and shaking his head.  
"I don't think it's the time for that yet", the brunette replied with a slight hum to his voice.  
Kyohei frowned and purse his lips in a pout.  
"What do you mean by that? Don't you trust me?"  
The older male laughed out joylessly.  
"No offense, but… yes. That is indeed the case", he said silently. "During my travels I have met many kinds of people and not all of them were reliable. I've learnt the hard way not to trust everyone. Also, seeing that we just met today… I need some more time to see if you are indeed reliable. I hope you don't mind."  
The rookie blinked in confusion and looked at the other brunette. What a sensible answer.  
"S-sure", he then stuttered, turning his brown eyes away and scratching his head. "No problem. It can wait. I was just curious, that's all."

It became silent once more. Kyohei glanced at the normal-type that was still sleeping on the blankets. That poor little thing had suffered, suffered more than he could probably tell from the looks of it. The same thing probably went for Touya as well. Kyohei knew nothing about either of his two companions. They both seemed to be hiding something horrible, something tragic. The rookie's curiosity was screaming inside of him, protesting and wanting to know more… but the boy himself wasn't certain if he wanted to know everything. A long sigh escaped his slightly parted lip as he leaned his head against his knees. Even his starter, his own tepig was still a stranger to him. How long would it take to gain the trust of all the three? Kyohei shook his head in his thoughts and closed his eyes. This was going to be a longer journey than he had ever thought it would be.  
"How about you?"

Kyohei's eyes darted open and he looked at Touya in confusion. The older trainer had a small smile on his face as he continued.  
"What is your story?"  
The messy haired brunette smirked with a chuckle and hit his companion's shoulder playfully with his fist.  
"I should probably say the same thing as you did just to piss you off", he laughed. "but I won't. It's not like my past is that much of a big deal anyways."  
Touya's smile widened and he watched Kyohei in curiosity, eyes not leaving the boy even for a second. The rookie took a deep breath and took a more comfortable position, looking up at the clouds deep in thought.

It took a moment before he started.  
"I was born in Aspertia. My family is fairly rich, but small. At first it was me, mom and dad. Nowadays it's just me and mom though."  
A bit of melancholy glinted in Kyohei's eyes. He didn't smile. His face was like that of a doll's with an unreadable expression.  
"My dad… he left us when I was just five. Funny, isn't it? It's like a disease of sorts. Fathers leaving their families just like that. It's pretty common nowadays."  
He sighed.  
"He left without a note. I still remember him ruffling my hair as he walked past me to the door, not saying anything. It was the last time I saw him."  
Touya frowned and lowered his head. He knew that feeling.  
"…how did your mom take it?"  
"Horribly", Kyohei laughed out unhappily. "She cried for days after that. Afterwards she started clinging to me, depending on me. I was almost as if I was dad's replacement. She even denied me the joy of getting to my very own pokemon journey when I turned 10."

Touya flinched. He shook his head in confusion and rubbed his temples.  
"Wait… you're not ten?" he asked, surprised.  
Kyohei burst into laughter. The laughing echoed throughout their small camp causing a couple patrats to back off and run away.  
"Do I look like a ten-year-old?" the rookie chuckled with a tiniest bit of grudge in his voice. He hit his companion again. "No, of course I'm not ten."  
"Then how old are you?" Touya questioned, rubbing the spot the other brunette had hit. The said brunette smirked playfully and stared at the older male.  
"Make a guess."  
The chocolate eyes looked at Kyohei up and down. The rookie could nearly hear the small gears in Touya's head grinding.  
"…pfft… 15?"  
The messy haired brunette shook his head.  
"Close, but not quite."  
"14?"  
"You're getting colder…"  
"…16?"  
"Bingo."

The age of the other came as a bit of a shock to Touya. The guy laughed out in disbelief and pinched the bridge of his nose.  
"Dear lord Arceus… seriously?"  
"Aw c'mon, I can't possibly be that much of a kid!" Kyohei laughed. "How old are you then, grandpa?"  
"17. Turning 18 in November."  
"Pfft, you'll get to drink before I do", the rookie pouted but soon smiled again. "Funny, though. My birthday is in December. We're both winter kids."  
"So it seems", Touya hummed. "You like snow?"  
"Like it? I love it!"

For once the two boys laughed together. The tension that had been lingering upon them for the time being was now gone and replaced with light cheerfulness and hope for the future. They had both experienced the loss of their fathers, both born in the midst of snow and coldness. Touya could see his own past self in his new companion. The carefree nature, the excitement, the thrill of adventure. The world was open for Kyohei and the older trainer was happy for being given the opportunity to relive that feeling.  
"By the way", Touya remembered. "You still want that lesson on how to catch pokemon?"  
"Nah", the messy haired boy replied, crawling over to the sleeping eevee and watching it with a smile on his face. "I think I'm good with just two pokemon for now."  
"Good thinking", Touya commented with a small grin. "You're still a newbie after all."  
Kyohei snorted and took off his cap, throwing it at the older brunette's face.  
"Just you wait. One of these days I'll beat your ass in a battle", he chuckled. "Besides… I'm certain I'd beat you any time in wrestling."  
"Then why don't you prove that, Kyohei of Aspertia?"  
"I can't see why not."

The trainers attacked each other, trying their best to win one another. All in good fun, of course. The smiles on their faces were glued there to stay and they wrestled for a long time until they finally tired themselves. They melted into an exhausted mess and slowly crawled into the depths of their tent with what was left of their power. After hesitating a moment Kyohei decided to take eevee with him in the tent, setting the little creature so that she could sleep near him. As soon as both the rookie and Touya got on their futons and told each other "good night", they fell asleep with pleased smirks on their lips.

* * *

A/N: Random chapter is random. xD And Touya and Kyohei are so cute together 3


	7. Chapter 7

_"Sadness is always the legacy of past, regrets are pains of the memory."_  
~Unknown

A long gray ear twitched at the sound of flying-types chirping in the trees early in the morning. The silver furred eevee yawned lazily, inhaling the scent of morning dew and faint mist. The smell relaxed her. Maybe the trip to that foreign place of cold white lights and hard, slippery ground was just a nightmare. Maybe it never happened and she was actually still in the forest, sleeping hidden from the eyes of possible predators. That would be nice. The normal-type opened its blue eyes slowly, taking a moment trying to adjust to the light of the morning sun. As soon as she did she blinked a couple times in disbelief.  
The face of that trainer from yesterday was right in front of her.

It was unbelievable. She had tried so hard to escape from that weird brunette boy, yet she still got caught? The eevee looked around. Well at least she wasn't inside a pokeball, that was for sure. Yet still…  
The normal-type soon realized that there were, in fact, two humans sleeping there near her. She narrowed her eyes at the sight. Were those two the same type or something? Same species of human? They seemed so similar, nearly identical.

After a brief moment of simply staring at the two trainers the eevee shook her head and turned to look at the narrow pathway that led outside the tent. She shot a hesitating glance at the humans, wondering if they would wake up if she made a run for it right now. The brunettes both seemed to be fast asleep, so the normal-type decided to take a risk and leapt off the pile of blankets that had worked as her sleeping nest during night. She didn't get far before she was stopped by a quiet voice.  
"…oi. You. Silver-fur."

The eevee froze in place, alarmed. She turned to look at the other trainer, the older one, who was now sitting up and looking straight at her. She allowed her fur stand up more than before to try and look intimidating, to try and scare the human. The chocolate eyed young man wasn't impressed by the act though, but neither did he approach the normal-type by any ways. Just stared at it from afar with a calm, understanding gaze in his eyes.  
"I'm not going to force you to stay", Touya said in a silent voice. "but I'm saying you really should reconsider. You were badly injured yesterday and the healing process takes quite some time."

Even though the silver ball of fur couldn't understand the words the brunette was saying, she could tell by Touya's eyes and body language that the boy was not going to hurt her. Either that or that human was a pretty damn good liar. The latter wouldn't have really surprised the eevee. Not after all that she had seen and experienced.  
"I can see that you don't like us humans, but you need to hang in there", Touya continued, quickly checking if Kyohei was going to wake up. "We'll take you to where there are others of your kind. I promise."  
The blue eyed pokemon narrowed her eyes and gave a meaningful look to the other brunette who was still sleeping as if not even a bomb could wake him up. Touya smirked faintly and shook his head.  
"He's harmless. I can guarantee you that. If my word turns out to be a lie, I'll personally take you to Kanto", he laughed, granting the eevee a warm smile and offering her his hand. "So… will you stay?"

There was a moment of hesitation. The normal-type stared at the taller brunette for a long time without blinking, determined to find if the guy was bluffing. She wouldn't be fooled this time. She wouldn't trust these humans.  
But that didn't mean she couldn't benefit from their offerings, right?  
Instead of offering the brunette her paw, the silvery ball of fur sighed and walked back to her pile of blankets. She quickly jumped on top of it again and laid town without a single sound. Touya sighed in relief and smiled a little to himself. Perhaps he had learnt something from his former green-haired friend after all.

The smile faded as soon as the image of that long and fluffy green hair came to his mind. It almost felt like a cold hand was clutching at his heart. Touya frowned a little, letting all a small hum as he allowed his back to hit the mattress once more. His brown eyes investigated the inner walls of the tent thoughtlessly, mind wandering somewhere really far away.  
It was already 2 years since he had last seen that guy. Maybe even longer, or at least it felt like that. It felt like it had been an eternity.

Natural Harmonia Gropius. That was his name. The name of the guy with the fluffy green hair that resembled that of a zoroark's. Though the image of that trainer was vivid in Touya's mind he could still see that some details were missing. He couldn't remember the color of that the guy's, N's, eyes. He couldn't recall if N had actually had a necklace or if he was just remembering things incorrectly. It saddened him very much and made him want to tear his mind apart for having forgotten things about someone so important to him.

Did the details really matter in the end? The brunette could still remember the things that really mattered. The gentleness. The fiery passion towards pokemon. The slight social awkwardness and how Touya helped him through the worst moments. He remembered their first meeting in the crowds of a little town, their first battle. He could recall the several times they would bump into each other while adventuring and the time when the green haired boy had practically dragged him onto a ferris wheel.  
Not to mention those words of betrayal that pierced his heart during that very same ferris wheel ride.

Touya repeated the words he had heard that day in his mind a couple times. He released a sigh, scratching his head covered with brown hair that was now almost as messy as Kyohei's. His brown eyes roamed to glance at the said messy haired boy and he startled as he saw the other boy staring at him, smirking.  
"Morning", the rookie greeted cheerfully.  
The older brunette rolled his eyes, huffing in slight amusement.  
"How long have you been awake?" he asked.  
The other shrugged, his smirk growing a hint wider and becoming more devious.  
"Long enough", he replied, reaching out his hand to poke Touya's nose. "What'cha thinking about this early in the morning that makes you frown like that?"  
"Stuff."  
"…you're boring, you know that?"

A smile rose to decorate Touya's lips as well. He shook his head in amuse, sitting up.  
"Obviously. I'm your mentor, your teacher. Being boring is part of a teacher's work", he replied in a formal voice.  
Kyohei laughed and threw a pillow at the older brunette's face.  
"And here I thought you're a cool guy. Seems like I stand corrected."  
"Are you saying that I'm not cool?" Touya asked in a low voice, picking up the pillow the rookie had thrown. The said messy haired boy stuck out his tongue at the older one, getting a pillow thrown at his own face for a change.  
And thus a morning pillow fight war began.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update, everyone... goddamn school. I swear to Arceus it's trying to kill me. I've got a speech to prepare for next week as well as a really really big test. This is going to be hell...

Please try to be patient with the next chapter as well. I'll write it as soon as I can but it might take some time seeing that school is being a bitch.


	8. Chapter 8

"_A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation… is the medicine that puts all ghosts of fear on the run."_  
~George Matthew Adams

The two trainers got tired of playing around eventually and packed up their stuff. As predicted last night the weather was cloudy with a slight threat of rain. The clouds and the moist air both encouraged the boys to be quick with the packing and as soon as they were done they left their camping place in order to head to the next town. Floccesy Town. Yet still they traveled with no much hurry, battling a couple wild pokemon on the way to train. Touya's larvesta appeared to be stronger than the older brunette had first expected it to be. As for Kyohei… well, he was a little surprised to see the silver-furred eevee follow him around without much resistance. At some point he picked the normal-type up and carried her for the rest of the trip so that the pokemon wouldn't tire herself too much. She was still recovering, after all.

They were lucky that it didn't start raining before they reached Floccesy Town. Just when they managed to make out the silhouettes of the buildings, the first raindrop fell. Kyohei released a deep sigh as the drop landed on his nose.  
"Well I guess this was to be expected", he said with a small smile. "I'm glad it started raining now and not before. Tepig, return."  
With a small tap on the seal of the fire-type's pokeball, the little pig disappeared within the ball. Touya glanced at his larvesta, granting it an apologizing smile.  
"I know you don't like it… but you're a part fire-type", he said. "It's better if you return. You're safer in your pokeball."  
The bug- and fire-type growled in a displeased manner but nudged his head against the seal of the ball that his trainer held in front of him, hiding inside the ball. Touya put the ball on his belt and smiled at Kyohei.  
"Let's get going then before we get wet."  
The messy haired boy replied with a nod.

They both turned towards the road to town once more, only to be stopped by someone's shout.  
"Hey! You two!"  
Kyohei and Touya lifted their chins up to notice that a man was standing on a cliff near them, left from them. Touya could recognize the man all too well and stepped back, gulping. Kyohei shot a worried glance at him but couldn't ask if the older guy was okay before the said guy was already running away.  
"I-I'll head along! I really need a toilet. See you at Pokemon Center!" he still called out over his shoulder as he ran. "Sorry!"  
"Uh… sure!" Kyohei replied a hint confused. "I wonder what's up with him…"

The stranger jumped down the cliff with no fear, causing the messy haired brunette to flinch doing so. He looked at the man up and down. The man had spiky flame colored hair that was long and puffy as if he had had an accident with chemicals in a laboratory. Kyohei noted that some of it was tied on a ponytail on the back of his head. He was wearing a large poncho and a necklace made of pokeball-like big pearls and his skin seemed slightly tanned. His purple eyes held a curious look as the man glanced to the direction where Touya had just ran.  
"What's wrong with your friend? Am I really that scary?" he thought out loud, scratching his head before turning to face Kyohei. "I just wanted to say hi. I'm Alder."  
"Er… hi", the brunette laughed out a tad awkwardly. "I'm Kyohei and I come from Aspertia."

They shook hands. Alder smiled and took a look at Kyohei's eevee, which was now glaring at the stranger in suspicion. He lifted his eyebrow and hummed.  
"Is that your pokemon? How did she get injured?"  
"A bunch of patrats attacked her", Kyohei replied and gazed upon the normal-type, pondering whether he should comfort her by petting her or just leave her be. "She's not really mine though. I'm just taking care of her until she gets better."  
"And after she gets better?"  
"It's up for her to decide. If she wants to stay with me, I'll gladly keep her. Otherwise I'll let her choose the path she wants."  
Alder smiled.  
"Wise words, young man", he complimented. "Do you have pokemon other than her?"  
"Yeah, a tepig. I just called him back though since it's starting to rain", he stated. "Speaking of which…"

It had started pouring. The rainfall wasn't thick yet but enough to get anyone wet. Kyohei glanced at Alder who gasped.  
"Ouch, my bad!" he laughed out and motioned Kyohei to go along. "I'm sorry for keeping you. If you don't mind I'd like to apologize properly by serving you some tea sometime at my house. Your friend is welcome too."  
"I'll make sure to pay you a visit, sir", the rookie replied as he waved his hand to the man. "Where is your house, anyways?"  
"It's right after Pokemon Center, past the clock tower", Alder replied.  
"Okay, see you there then!" Kyohei hummed and started running towards the Pokemon Center, trying his best to keep the normal-type on his arms from getting wet.

Luckily the Pokemon Center was just behind the corner. Kyohei rushed inside as fast as he could, sighing in relief as he noticed that he hadn't gotten too wet. He would still need a change of clothes though to ensure he wouldn't get a cold. The brown eyes lowered to look at the eevee who stared back, in confusion. A smile curved on Kyohei's lips.  
"I'm glad you didn't get wet", he sighed. "The gauze would have been a mess to remove if it had gotten wet."  
The pokemon stuck out her tongue at the brunette in a childish manner before jumping off of the rookie's arms and onto the floor. She shook her fur a bit, getting rid of the smallest water drops that had fallen on her outside. Kyohei pouted a little at the normal-type ignoring his efforts of being a gentleman but just sighed and decided not to mind it.

Since his tepig had been fighting against wild pokemon earlier, Kyohei decided that he should give the fire-type to nurse Joy for a check-up. The pink haired woman promised that it wouldn't take long and took the cheerful pokemon to the backroom. The rookie trainer looked around as he waited, soon spotting that Touya was sitting on a table near the reception desk. He headed there, sitting next to the older boy.  
"Yo", he greeted. Touya, who had been staring into a cup of coffee, lifted his eyes up and answered the greeting with a silent nod. He then made a face.  
"I guess I owe you another explanation", he sighed.  
Kyohei smirked.  
"It's not completely necessary if you buy me a cup of coffee as well", he replied.

* * *

A/N: Nothing much to say here. School is still killing me... _'

Oh well. Hue's first appearance will be soon! I hope you're all waiting for it as excited as I am. 3

I actually managed to finally buy Pokemon White 2. It's amazing so far! :D And helps me a lot with writing this fic. I have tons of stuff planned out for later, just you wait!

Ah, and I'll build the team for Kyohei in this based on the team I have in the game. :3


	9. Chapter 9

_"We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly and without hesitation; for there is no grace in benefit that sticks to the fingers."_  
~Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"Wait a second... you're the former Champion?!"  
The amazement in the rookie trainer's chocolate eyes was clear and sincere. Kyohei stared at Touya with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape. The older trainer sighed deeply and nodded, only making the other more excited doing so.  
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Kyohei laughed out and leaned back in his chair, gazing at the ceiling. "Arceus... This is so cool! I'm being mentored by a real-life Unova Champion!"  
"Don't let it go to your head", Touya muttered and scratched the back of his head. "The reason I'm agreeing to being your teacher is because I figured you'd be nice. If you'll go around bragging about it I'll be gone in a flash."  
"I won't. I promise", the younger boy replied cheerily and smiled in a way that almost seemed like his face would soon crack due to the smile's wideness. "Still though... wow. I thought that you're strong but I never thought that you'd be that strong."  
"Well to be exact it isn't me who's strong. It's my team", the former Champion stated, stretching his arms.  
Kyohei lifted his eyebrow at the words.  
"But you trained them. That makes you talented, doesn't it?"  
Touya simply shrugged with another small sigh.  
"My team is my family. They're like my brothers and sisters. I'm simply a part of the team. I'm not any better than the others."

That was when Kyohei smirked playfully and reached his hand toward Touya to punch his mentor's shoulder lightly. It was a gentle gesture that meant no harm.  
"You're way too modest", the rookie hummed. "You should take at least some pride in what you've achieved. Not many people have managed to beat down the whole Elite Four. Not to mention the Champion."  
"Shut up", Touya growled, slightly flustered and trying to lower his head to hide his blushing face. "With such a nice team as mine it wasn't really a problem."  
"Ugh, you really are boring", Kyohei pouted. "You act like a girl."  
"Look who's talking", the older boy shot back. "You're the one who seems unable to shut up at all. You talk like there was no tomorrow."  
"Gee, thanks", the rookie huffed and rolled his eyes. "At least I'm not a freaking Mr. Mysterious all the time. What are you, trying to charm me by making me catch interest in you?"

For a moment the two similar looking boys shot deadly glares at each other with their arms crossed on their chests. Soon enough a smile graced over both of their lips and they started laughing. They laughed for a good while, gaining a couple weird looks from other people in the Pokemon Center but they didn't mind. Touya was the first one to stop laughing and calm down.  
"Seems like I wasn't wrong after all", he chuckled and chugged down the rest of his coffee. "You're a great guy."  
Kyohei snorted in amuse.  
"Of course I am. I'm the best", he stated confidently and shot a glance towards the reception desk. Noticing that the light above the desk was going off he stood up and shot a smiled at his companion.  
"I'm gonna go get tepig back from the check-up", he told.  
Touya lifted his eyebrow.  
"Where's your eevee by the way?"

The rookie froze for a moment and looked around for the silver ball of fur. He soon noticed the said normal-type near a potted plant, poking at the leaves with her nose.  
"Ah, she's over there, sniffing around the place. I think she got mad at me for getting wet during the rain", he muttered and scratched his head. "She's one finicky little pokemon."  
"She would probably get well along with my serperior", Touya laughed out. "He's pretty picky as well. It was kinda annoying at first but I got used to it. You probably will too."  
Kyohei nodded and glanced at the eevee with a sigh before hiding his hands in his pockets and walking over to the reception desk.

Meanwhile Touya eyed the small normal-type with curiosity as well as some worry. The eevee still seemed to dislike the bandages around her body seeing that she kept on trying to scratch herself from the areas covered by said bandages. Not that it mattered much seeing that she seemed a lot healthier already, although distant. The pokemon hadn't had any contact with Touya after their rather one-sided conversation in the morning. Maybe she was avoiding the older trainer by purpose, perhaps she even held a grudge towards him for having made her stay. Oh well. Touya didn't mind as long ass the ball of fur was safe and sound.

Kyohei returned quickly with his tepig's pokeball in hand. He put it on his belt and sat back down next to his mentor, leaning back. The chocolate eyes wandered off to gaze out of the window. It was still raining.  
"Oh, right", he then remembered. "That guy Alder asked me to come over to his place for tea once the rain stops. He told me you could come too. I understand if you don't want to go so just tell me if you don't."  
Touya froze for a second, then huffing a little and laughing out faintly.  
"Nah, I'll come with you. Somehow I'm thinking it'd be nice seeing Alder after such a long time. He's a good guy... and I'm kind of fed up with hiding all the time, too."  
"That's great", Kyohei smirked. "The little hermit dwebble is finally coming out of its shell."  
"Shut up, brat", the older guy laughed out and hit the rookie with his elbow. "Or I'll change my mind."

The sun was already setting when the rainfall finally stopped and allowed the two trainers to step outside. It appeared that Kyohei's eevee was indeed really finicky seeing that she refused to walk in the mud that now covered the streets of Floccesy Town. Not that Kyohei minded. He was too fascinated by his surroundings to care about the ball of fur climbing uncomfortably on his shoulder. Touya simply chuckled at the sight of the reluctant little normal-type and the rookie who looked all around the dim-lit town that was covered with crystal-like water droplets everywhere. It was almost like time had stopped seeing that people were still in their homes in fear of yet another rain. It gave Kyohei nearly a magical image of that old town.

It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the clock tower. The chocolate eyes of both of the trainers aimed up to look at the majestic, old monument of stone in wonder.  
"If only I had a tourist guide with me", Kyohei stated silently. "I wonder why this thing was built."  
"I thought about the same thing last time I was here, when I was on my way to Aspertia", Touya replied. "All I know is that it has something to do with a prophecy of sorts and that it's been here since this town was built."  
"Such mysteriousness... reminds me of someone", the younger boy mocked and got a hit on his chest in return.  
"If you keep doing that I'll never tell you anything", Touya laughed.  
Kyohei simply smirked challengingly.  
"Oh we'll see", he murmured quietly.  
"I see you two are enjoying the view."

The rookie was the first one to recognize the voice and turn around to notice Alder sitting on the small nearby staircase, smiling at them. Kyohei returned the smile with pleasure and waved his hand at the guy, almost making the eevee on his shoulder fall in process. The normal-type gave out a displeased sound and bit the younger boy's ear in revenge which caused the said trainer to flinch for a moment and shoot an angry glare at the silver ball of fur.  
"Well sorry", he muttered to the eevee. The furry little pokemon replied by sticking his tongue out at the boy in a mocking fashion.

Alder laughed at the sight and rose up, walking over to the two trainers wearing a relaxed grin.  
"I figured that since you're probably here the first time it's better if I come check if you've managed to get lost in here", the man hummed and looked up at the clock tower. "But I see you got mesmerized by this old fella instead. Well, she sure is a beaut."  
"You know anything about its history?" Kyohei immediately asked in curiosity.  
Alder closed his eyes for a brief moment before shaking his head.  
"I do know something but not much. Maybe we could talk about it while having that tea we talked about earlier?" he suggested.  
The rookie, of course, nodded in excitement.

Alder smirked at the reaction and shot a quick glance at Touya, his eyes widening a little. Touya switched his weight in discomfort and murmured a small "hi". The flame-haired man ignored it though and instead walked closer to him, grabbing his skin and looking him straight in the eyes.  
"Well Arceus be damned", he laughed out in amaze. "Is that Touya Black I see in front of me?"  
Touya just murmured something inaudible and nodded. Kyohei bit his lip as he realized that the older trainer must have not been feeling too comfortable about the closeness and took a hold of his shoulder, pulling him away from Alder. The amethyst-eyed male smirked with a small sigh.  
"I heard you lost against Iris and disappeared. I'm really surprised seeing you."  
"It's complicated", the brunette replied with a mutter and practically hid behind Kyohei. The messy-haired rookie rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Touya, then at Alder.  
"So uh... how about that tea?"

* * *

A/N: To those who might be wondering if the plot will be going anywhere... yes, it will. I've actually finally decided how this fic will end and go on. The story will also get more interesting as soon as those little sugarbuns learn to know each other better and start to deve- *shot for almost spoiling*

Butttttt... yeah. I apologize again for the long wait. Thank you all for being patient with me and thank you for reading. I feel so flattered with this many followers, it's making me blush! /w/


	10. Chapter 10

_"Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company."_  
~Unknown

The house of the former Champion was not much to look at. Just a simple wooden building in the north-west of Floccesy. Despite the fact that otherwise the house didn't look any different from other houses in the town, what was notable was the space in front of Alder's house. It was a battlefield meant for pokemon battles and it seemed to be known well amongst the townspeople seeing that the seats on the sides of the battlefield looked as if they had been sat on much.  
"Welcome to my humble abode!"

Hearing the flame-haired man say that the two brunettes following him peeked inside the house. Alder had opened the front door and stepped inside with a wide grin on his face, gesturing his hand that his guests should do that too. The two younger males stepped in slightly hesitantly and their brown eyes roamed around the place with utmost curiosity. The first thing that caught both of their interests was a shelf at the back that was holding three pokeballs all of which were placed there almost as if they were trophies. The shelf was surrounded by its both sides with long feathers that Touya could recognize being tail feathers of a braviary. Right next to where the men were standing were two tables, on on the right side and the other on the left. They were quite shallow, seemingly Japanese tea tables. There were also soft-looking cushions surrounding the tables.

Alder soon sighed.  
"Sorry for the slight mess. I haven't had much time to clean up since I've been helping out a couple kids who wanted some hints on how to train their pokemon", he stated.  
Kyohei just laughed out.  
"Oh, this is nothing compared to my room in its worst!"  
"Hm. Don't your parents complain about it?" the oldest of the trio asked, raising an eyebrow. "Ah, and do sit down."  
Both the brunettes sat down around one of the tables. Touya kept silent, still glancing around with great interest while Kyohei smirked at the flame-haired guy.  
"Nah, my mom doesn't really nag about it. She says that as long as I'm happy it's all good", he explained and gained a nod from Alder. The former Champion was silent for a moment, waiting for a mention about Kyohei's father but as it never came, he just shrugged it off and figured the boy didn't want to talk about it.  
"You're lucky to have an understanding mother", Alder hummed and stretched his arms. "Either way, I'm off to boil the water. You two make yourselves comfortable in the meantime, okay?"  
The younger one of the two trainers replied with a nod and Alder hurried off deeper into the house, soon out of sight.

As soon as the flame-hair was gone Kyohei gently pushed Touya with his elbow. The older brunette was startled and he snapped out of his thoughts, looking at his companion.  
"What?"  
"Stop looking so down. You said it yourself: that you're fed up with hiding. So why the long face?"  
"I'm just nervous", the older guy laughed out quietly and played around with his fingers. "I did say I'm fine with meeting him but I'm not sure if I want to... explain things just yet."  
"Leave that to me", Kyohei hummed and winked his eye. "I'll keep him busy with my questions so he won't have time to interrogate you too much."  
Touya sighed in relief and relaxed a little on his cushion.  
"You're a treasure, Kyo."  
"I know I a- ...wait, what did you call me?"

Before the older brunette could answer their host appeared with an old-fashioned tea-set and a small selection of teas of different taste. Alder smiled widely as he told the two trainers to choose the tea of their liking before proceeding to mix the drink up. Soon enough all of them had a steamy hot cup of tea in front of them. The mere scent of the liquid was enough to relax Touya completely. Kyohei smiled at that reaction, figuring that he should still keep his promise. So he spoke:  
"You told me you know something about the legend of this town, Alder. Could you tell us more?"

The oldest of the trio sighed and rubbed his temples for a while before answering.  
"As I said, I don't know much", Alder stated. "But I do know the basics. Are you both familiar with the legend of the three legendary pokemon and the big forest fire?"  
Both the brunettes nodded, Kyohei a tad hesitantly.  
"I know some of it. Virizion, terrakion and cobalion?" he confirmed.  
"Correct", replied the flame-haired man. "Those three legendaries are said to be the protectors of all mistreated and abandoned pokemon. There was once a great forest fire caused by some disagreements amongst us humans. Virizion, terrakion and cobalion were the three pokemon who saved the innocent pokemon from that said fire as well as the forest from further harm."  
"What does that have to do with Floccesy?" the rookie questioned.  
"Well", the former Champion continued. "The legend says that from within that fire engulfed forest those three pokemon found something. A baby pokemon. Feeling sympathy for the mysterious young orphan they decided to take care of him together, raise him to become powerful. In all their bitterness towards human-kind they thought that maybe they could use the kid to get rid of all the selfish humans that once almost destroyed their home."

There was a short pause as Alder sipped his tea. Kyohei was frowning ever so slightly while Touya stared into his tea lost in thought.  
"But humans aren't evil!" the messy-haired brunette soon muttered in confusion. "We take care of our pokemon partners and help them become stronger. Why can't they see that?"  
"The disappointment for mankind caused by the happenings back then was far too great", Alder explained. "They saw what bad things us humans can do and now they refuse to think any better of us in fear of history repeating itself."  
"Someone should tell them the truth", Kyohei huffed, glancing at the flame-haired man. "You haven't finished the story. What part does the clock tower have in this?"  
"Ah, that. I almost forgot", Alder laughed out. "It's said that the clock in that tower will ring once the prophecy is fulfilled. Once the fourth legendary pokemon has finished his training and appears to humans, wielding the Sword of Justice."

Alder then gave the boys time to think about what they had just learned by concentrating in his tea for a while and closing his eyes. It took a while before he shot a curious glance at Touya from under his eyelashes and smirked a little.  
"So... what happened with Iris? She's talented but from what I've experienced you seem more powerful. Your strategies are flawless while Iris is just a tad too reckless. It should have been easy for you to beat her in a battle."  
The older brunette bit his lip and looked away from the amethyst eyes that were now observing him rather curiously.  
"Stop flattering me. I'm not any better. Besides she learned much from Drayden."  
"I'm just stating the facts. Something's fishy about this whole thing. You shouldn't have lost so easily."  
"I lost anyways. What does it matter to you?"  
"Guys!"

Kyohei's frustrated yell stopped the small fight before it could become any bigger. Touya murmured something inaudible and rose up to leave but Alder still seemed determined to find out just what had happened. He narrowed his eyes a little at the older brunette's withdrawal.  
"Battle me, Touya Black", he then said with a low voice. "Show me if you're truly worthy of your lost title or not."  
The boy to which the words were directed laughed out joylessly.  
"I'm not really fond of battles nowadays..."  
"That's not an excuse. And it's good exercise for your team as well."  
The rookie trainer's chocolate eyes lit up with the idea.  
"Two former Champions battling? This I gotta see! Touya, please!"  
Just a glance to those pleading young eyes was enough to make Touya give up. He groaned a little in frustration but shrugged anyways.  
"Fine. Just this once."

* * *

A/N: Again it's been an eternity since I last updated... _' Sorry. And thanks for your patience and loving reviews, too! They always make my day~

In fact I actually have something to ask from you people. ._.

Would you like it if I wrote flashbacks about what happened between Touya and N?

You can respond via reviews or via PMs. I'd really appreciate your opinions on this matter. :3 Thank you beforehands and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter 3


	11. Chapter 11

_"It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them."_  
~Alfred Adler

The sun was still setting and the sky was bright orange, fitting together with the flaming hair of the challenger and the colors of the fall in the trees. The air was moist after the rain and easy to be breathed, luring out a couple villagers from their homes for their evening strolls and chores. A bunch of younger kids gathered around Alder's front yard to watch the battle that was about to start, chattering in excitement, whispering to each other in curiosity for the identity of the brunette that stood before their local hero.

Between the two stood another brunette, younger, who glanced at both trainers before stepping back, further away from the battlefield.  
"I've never tried acting as a referee before", Kyohei murmured mostly to himself, then coughing to try and hide his hesitance. "S-so. As we agreed, the battle will be a 3-on-3. Each trainer will pick three pokemon to use for the battle and can send them out in any order they want. You'll follow the basic league rules; only the challenger, Touya, can switch pokemon in the battle. The last man standing is the winner."  
Both Alder and Touya nodded shortly in approval. The older former champion smirked a little and stretched his arms. It was clear that he was just as excited as the kids watching nearby.  
"I've been looking forward to battling you again, kid. Let's make this an enjoyable battle, shall we?" he cheerily stated to Touya. The brown-eyed boy sighed a little and smiled with slight nervousness.  
"If I even can possibly enjoy a pokemon battle, that is", he muttered silently, glad that no one other than Kyohei heard him. "Let's get this over with."  
Kyohei checked just once more if both trainers were ready before lifting his hands up. He shot an encouraging smile at Touya and then stated:  
"You may begin the battle!"

Alder was the first one to react to the declaration. He reached his pocket for his first pokeball, calling out his first pokemon. Just seconds after, Touya did the same for his own pokemon. They both ended up throwing their pokeballs at the same time.  
"Go, bouffalant!"  
"Zweilous, I choose you!"  
The two different pokemon materialized in front of their trainers with a flash. Before Touya stood a medium-sized dragon-type with two matching heads. It had long, black fur covering its eyes (if it even had any, that is) and some blue fur right under the black one. It two thin, black wings on its back as well but just the thought of the dragon flying with those wings seemed ridiculous. The pokemon in front of Alder was different though: it was a large pokemon with a puffy afro-like fur on its head and a pair of mean, yellow eyes glaring at Touya from under that fur. It had big horns growing from its head, ones with two golden rings on them and it stood on four gray hooves.

"...I wasn't expecting you to go with bouffalant", Touya admitted as he watched the two pokemon stare at each other, waiting for orders. Alder grinned and laughed out a little, then gesturing with his hand for his pokemon to move.  
"Start off with Head Charge!"  
The bouffalant let out a small yell of approval for its trainer before taking a couple steps backward in order to gain more speed. It then rushed forward, towards the zweilous standing still in front of it. It was still obediently waiting for orders.  
"Scary Face!"  
Hearing its first command, the dragon-type leaned its head towards a little, revealing its teeth at its opponent. It shot was could have been an intimidating glare at the buffalo pokemon, causing it to accelerate a little. However the bouffalant attacked nevertheless, hitting the zweilous with its head and pushing it backwards, leaving marks on the ground. It then backed off, shaking its head. It was clear that it had taken some damage as well despite its puffy afro softening the hit.

The zweilous was still standing tall and didn't even seem to mind the hit. Alder hummed in his thoughts at the sight and scratched his head.  
"That's a tough dragon you have there, I give you that", he stated. "But that only means that I won't go easy on you! Head Charge again!"  
"Dragon Rush!"  
This time the zweilous was faster. A blue aura matching its fur surrounded it as it charged forward, attacking the normal-type bouffalant with a violent tackle. The afro-furred pokemon grunted at the pain and flinched, squinting its eyes shut. Touya tensed as he noticed this and a hint of victorious pride glinted in his chocolate eyes.  
"Crunch!" he called out and his dragon-type listened, biting the buffalo's neck harshly with its sharp teeth. The normal-type screamed in agony, causing Alder to grit his teeth.  
"Not so fast, kid! Bouffalant, Megahorn!"

With a bit of effort the fluffy-furred normal-type opened its eyes and glared at its opponent, then swinging its head towards the zweilous so that one of its horns hit the dragon-type's chest. It was the dragon's turn to scream in pain and worry its trainer. Touya, however, kept his cool and merely clenched his hands to fists.  
"Hang in there, zweilous! Dragon Pulse!"  
The half dark-type growled menacingly, anger in its whole being. It then faced its opponents, one of its heads directed towards the bouffalant. In a matter of seconds it opened its mouth, shooting a light blue shock wave straight at the normal-type. The power of the move pushed the bouffalant away from the zweilous and made it fall over. It no longer had strength to rise up. Kyohei lifted his right hand up, indicating that Touya had won this round.  
"Bouffalant cannot go on! First round goes to Touya!"

There was a short pause as the brunette trainer rushed to his dragon-type. The zweilous cheerfully accepted the praises of its owner, nuzzling both of its head against the boy's chest and the side of his head.  
"That Megahorn really scared me... but I'm glad you're okay. You did wonderful", Touya murmured to the pokemon and then called it back into its pokeball. Alder lifted his eyebrow at the deed and, having returned his bouffalant to rest, spoke:  
"You're changing pokemon even though I haven't sent out mine yet?"  
The words managed to form a smile on Touya's face, but just a brief one.  
"I don't need the advantage", he replied.  
The older trainer tilted his head a little and stretched his arms.  
"Hm. It's always good to have a little pride..."  
He then reached his next pokeball. As did Touya.  
"Go, volcarona!"  
"Swanna, time to roll!"

With another pair of white flashes the new choices appeared before the trainers. Touya's choice was a water- and flying-type pokemon, a swan with blue feathers on its chest shaped like a heart. The feathers on its head were shaped almost like a crown of sorts and the pokemon flapped its wings, happy for some long missed action. Alder's pokemon was a part bug- part fire-type, giving Touya a clear advantage. That advantage appeared to be out of pure luck though, seeing that Touya himself looked rather surprised about the situation.  
"Are you trying to lose this intentionally, grandpa?" he laughed out and gained a scolding gaze from the older trainer.  
"Now don't be hasty. I still have a chance... volcarona, use psychic!"

And with that the six-winged moth-like pokemon shot psychic waves towards its opponent. The swanna swayed a little where it was standing, shaking its head in order to try and get rid of the feeling caused by the attack.  
"Air Slash!"  
The flying-type forced its eyes opened and flapped it wings just once, rising above the volcarona. With another flap of wing it sent a powerful, slicing burst of air straight towards the bug-type. The said bug-type screamed in pain and now had some troubles trying to keep flying.  
"You can do it, volcarona! Hang on! Quiver Dance!"  
The moth then tried dancing clumsily mid-air to gain more power. It managed to do that somehow but only to be crushed another Air Slash. The volcarona fell on the ground unconscious.  
"Volcarona has fainted! Second round for Touya!"

Alder returned his trusty bug-type in its pokeball, giving it a small kiss before doing so. He then turned to look at Touya, noting that the brunette was petting his swanna. He smiled at the sight.  
"You're better than I thought", he admitted. Hearing this, the younger trainer lifted his head up and looked at the flame-haired man sternly.  
"I've won already. Is it completely necessary for us to go on?" he asked. Alder sighed and looked around, seeing that there was now quite a crowd watching the battle. Crowd consisting with lots of children as well as a couple older people and a pair of adults.  
"Do we want to disappoint the viewers?"  
"So it's not necessary."

Without another word Touya returned his Swanna in its pokeball and put the ball in his bag. Kyohei raised his hand to announce the winner but didn't get to say a word before he already saw Touya hurrying away from the yard, pushing his way away through the crowd. The rookie shot a quick glance at Alder, biting his lip and mouthing the word "sorry". He then ran after Touya, making his way through the now confused crowd chased by his furry little eevee.

* * *

A/N: At first I was thinking that I'd make Touya and Kyo sleep over at Alder's place buuut... I think this is better. More dramatic. -shot-

I needed a bunch of info for this chapter. It nearly killed me. xDDD So I really do hope you liked it. 3

Soon, Hugh. Soon you may make your debut...

And soon: HOLIDAYS. Meaning I will have more time to write, yet less Internet connection to check possibly needed information. Shit. :3


	12. Chapter 12

"_A man dies as often as he loses his friends."_

~Francis Bacon

The sun had already long set when Kyohei finally caught up with Touya. The older trainer had run off to Route 120 and was putting up their tent. For a moment the rookie simply observed the other brunette from afar, gasping a little for air for he had ran quite a lot. He then straightened his back and walked to him, hitting Touya on the stomach as soon as the older guy noticed him and turned towards him. The former champion coughed a couple times, falling on his knees in pain and gritting his teeth. It took a moment before he could bring himself to speak.

"What the fuck was that for?!" he demanded in an annoyed tone.

Kyohei frowned at the words and huffed.

"A question for a question: why the fuck did you leave like that?"

"Continuing the battle would have been nothing but a waste of time."

"That's not the point! You got me worried. I thought that maybe something was wrong."

There was a brief silence. Touya, having recovered from the hit, stood up once more and carried on putting up the tent. He said nothing, just worked without a single word, ignoring Kyohei's eyes that were still looking at him up and down. Finally the messy-haired brunette spoke:

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Touya rolled his eyes.

"What am I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry for ending an useless battle'? I'm not going to apologize."

"Well you could at least apologize for not waiting for me", Kyohei mumbled and switched his weight. "We could have gone to the Pokemon Center together and spent the night there. Indoors."

"I prefer outdoors", the older trainer simply replied. "It's more peaceful."

"You're getting off the topic."

"Fine. I'm sorry for running off without saying anything and worrying you. There. Happy?"

Another while was spent in silence. Kyohei relaxed and even smiled a little. He started helping Touya with the tent and the older guy was more than happy to get that help. The worked silently for a long time before Kyohei once more opened his mouth.

"So are you-?" he started but was cut off by his mentor.

"Where's eevee?"

It was as if a small electric shock had ran throughout the rookie's body. He immediately tensed up and looked around in slight panic only to notice the silvery ball of fur resting peacefully at the roots of a nearby tree. He sighed in relief and went back to setting up the camp.

"You're not being careful enough", Touya stated coldly. "What if she would have lost sight of you? What if she would have hurt herself while running?"

A jolt of regret struck Kyohei's chest. The boy bit his lip.

"That... that never crossed my mind", he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize me. Apologize her."

The chocolate eyes shot a glance at the still sleeping normal-type. Kyohei sighed and swore in his mind that he would indeed tell the pokemon he was sorry. But it would have to wait until later. Now she needed to rest. Instead the rookie directed his attention towards Touya.

"...so... are you okay?" he asked carefully, eyes searching for a reaction from the older one's face.

Touya threw his pillow inside the tent and glanced at Kyohei from the corner of his eye.

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed upset when you stopped the match. Is there something wrong?"

Touya froze for a second before he just sighed and crawled into the tent.

"Why are you so persistent about it?" he asked. There was no longer annoyance in his voice even though the guy was clearly trying to act annoyed. Instead there was some sincere curiosity. "Why do you care?"

"Isn't that what friends are for?"

There was no answer. Figuring that he would get nothing out of his mentor, Kyohei went and picked up his eevee, careful not to drop her. He then crawled into the tent as well, holding the furry creature on his arms and setting it down on a pile of blankets, the same bed she had had last night as well. Touya had already crawled under his sheets and had turned on his side so that he was facing away from Kyohei. The rookie sighed at the sight and tucked himself in, thinking it'd probably be better for him to get some sleep.

Just then, for Kyohei's great surprise, Touya spoke.

"You know how the starters in this region are officially oshawott, snivy and tepig?" he started. "Just like any other kid, I got myself one of those. I got it as a present from Professor Juniper. A female snivy with a rather fickle nature. She was a free spirit and was trying her best to escape from me for the couple first weeks. It was rough but in time I gained her trust and we became friends. Yet even when we were friends she would sometimes leave my side when I was asleep and return at dawn, trying to act as if she was there the whole night. She grew stronger incredibly fast. Before I knew it, I was accompanied by a full-grown servine. I was happy about her power but I still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off. Her whole mind wasn't in it. So one night I sneaked out after her and followed her.

"Apparently my starter had been keeping company to a male purrloin. It was a fine creature with no owner whatsoever. At first I thought about catching him but seeing that my servine was happy with the things as they were, I decided to let him be and simply observed their relationship from afar. I knew interfering it all would have only caused my companion to hate me and leave me. I couldn't stand the thought.

"One morning though I couldn't find Servine anywhere. It wasn't like her to not return for the morning. I panicked and looked for her for hours. Luckily I managed to find her before the end of the day and could see the reason for her absence. She... she had had an egg. The reason why she hadn't returned to me was simple exhaustion. ...I cried for several minutes. I was happy that she was okay, happy for her getting a kid. You can imagine how I nearly blew up from the joy and pride when she nudged the egg towards me, giving me permission to hold it. In her own way she told me that I could take care of her. It was an ultimate way for her to show me how much she trusted me."

A short silence occurred. Touya's face gained pained tone.

"She... she died before she could see her son hatch. In a battle against... against a very bad man. His pokemon was an electric type so I thought that she'd be okay. I thought nothing bad could happen. It was even his last pokemon. I was so close..."

The older trainer took a deep breath. Kyohei frowned. He could hear the boy's breath shivering.

"I gave up battling after that as well as my title as the Champion. I concentrated in training, wanting to make my team stronger so that the tragedy would never happen again."

"...so that's why you were missing for two years?" the rookie asked silently.

"Partly, yes", came the reply. Touya moved a little under the sheets to get a comfier position. Kyohei scratched his head. This was awkward. How was he supposed to react to a story such as that?

"I... I'm sorry for your loss", he finally muttered, wanting to facepalm because of the lameness of the line.

The two trainers listened to the sounds of the pokemon outside, relaxing in the tense, dark silence. Neither of them felt sleepy but talking didn't seem like an option. That is because none of them knew what to talk about. Finally Kyohei decided to try his luck.

"Funny how you mentioned a purrloin... I kinda have a tearjerker of my own based on that pokemon as well", he spoke, laughing out a little. "Though it's nothing compared to yours."

"Do tell me", Touya hummed. "I kinda need something to get my mind off of my own misery. Drowning in self-pity ain't so wonderful."

Kyohei chuckled at the comment, then smirking to himself and starting his story:

"Back in Aspertia... back when I was still a kid... I was bullied for having no father. Almost all the kids of my age made fun of me and my mother couldn't really help. She was the one pushing me to try and make friends.

"I did make one friend. His name was Hugh and he was always there for me. Protecting me from bullies and stuff like that. He had a strong sense of justice and I looked up to him, wishing I'm become like him once I got older. He was like the older brother I never had. He even had a little sister whom we'd play with sometimes and we were always having a great time.

"His little sister had a purrloin. A purrloin she had grown up with and which she had cherished all her life. It was clear that she loved that purrloin more than anything."

A pause. Kyohei sighed a little.

"That day we were playing at the outlook with Hugh. We had left his sister play alone because we wanted to play boy stuff. ...well, I wanted to play boy stuff. I had had enough of having tea parties with his sister and wanted something else for a change. So I lured Hugh into coming with me to the outlook so that we could have fun, just him and me. We got back home late at dusk. Our parents had all gathered to Hugh's house and someone was crying. We rushed to see what was going on and saw Hugh's sister sitting there, crying without her purrloin. We were told by the adults that some people in weird costumes had stolen her pet.

"Hugh was furious. He immediately attacked me, blaming me for having distracted him away from his little sister. He told me it was my fault. My selfishness had brought this upon their family. I... I had never seen him like that before. Hugh loved his sister more than anything, I knew that much, but..."

Silence. Touya waited for Kyohei to continue but soon asked already:

"So? What happened?"

The rookie trainer let out a deep sigh.

"He stopped talking to me and playing with me for a long time. He's been acting cold towards me ever since, up to this day. We're in better terms nowadays but he's still mad at me."

Touya rolled on his stomach and turned to look at his companion.

"He sounds like a dick."

"He isn't, believe me!" Kyohei swore and hummed a little. "He's a real nice guy once you get to know him. I deserved the hate."

"Pfft. No way. That shit wasn't your fault."

"Much like the death of your starter wasn't your fault."

Touya froze for a second before turning his head grumpily away from Kyohei. They didn't talk after that and ended up both falling to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, fellas! Been enjoying the summer ^^'

The amount of stalkers keeps on increasing... thanks, guys! I really appreciate it~ 3

I noticed I always forget the "u" in the name Kyouhei. ...oh fuck it. I'll leave it out completely. You know who I'm talking about anyways. xDDD

Next chapter: HUGH!

Evan Ray: Blacksquareshipping (also known as Tokyou) is a pairing between Touya/Black/Hilbert and Kyouhei/Nate. Meaning this fic revolves mostly around the relationship development between those two. Just so you know.


	13. Chapter 13

_"An early bird gets the worm."_

~Unknown

The morning came together with a rather thick fog caused by the moistness from yesterday's rain. The sky was cloudy and you could hardly tell it was morning since the light was so dim. The fog made Route 120 look like an abandoned ghost forest where you could imagine creatures like banette, haunter or duskull roaming. Yet somehow, at the same time, it held a rather beautiful and fairytale-like feeling. As if the time had stopped moving around the two traveling brunettes. The fog also seemed to eat almost all the color out of the scenery except for the flame-like leaves that wind had dragged all across the area and that spotted the trees every there and then.

Kyohei was the first sleepy-head to awaken. He was still slightly asleep when he sat up, scratching his head and yawning out loud. His brown eyes scanned the inside of the tent, looking for his cap as well as the silver ball of fur that he was supposed to take care of. He saw neither and he cursed, shoving the rest of his sleepiness aside by stretching and crawling out of the tent to see if the eevee and his cap were somewhere nearby. For a moment he couldn't see anything from the fog but soon enough he spotted something moving near a tree just a couple feet away from where he was.

For the brunette's great relief, the moving creature happened to indeed be the normal-type he was looking for. Kyohei sighed and crawled over to the ball of fur that seemed to be sitting on the root of the tree, looking straight up. He caught the eevee in his arms and the pokemon startled, soon relaxing though as it realized that it was just Kyohei holding her and resumed looking up at the tree. The rookie trainer gave the patient a confused look, rubbing his eyes a little before glancing up as well.

"What the...?"

What the boy saw there didn't make him particularly happy. Of course he was more than happy to see his lost cap hanging there but not the way it was hanging. It was in a creature's mouth. A small pokemon that seemed like a caterpillar with two, tiny white teeth sticking out and munching on the side of the cap. Its tiny yellow body was veiled by a bright green leaf and its button-like coal black eyes were closed as it happily tried to devour this mysterious thing it had found.

After a couple seconds of staring at the bug like a complete idiot, Kyohei murmured a couple swears and crawled back into the tent. Throwing a couple pillows and blankets aside, he found his bag and started quickly looking for his Pokedex. The racket, of course, woke up Touya who shot a grumpy glare at Kyohei for such a displeasing wakening.

"Stop throwing stuff on me", he growled, throwing the pillow the younger brunette had accidentally thrown at him back at the rookie. It hit Kyohei to the side of his head and the messy-haired trainer bit his lip.

"Sorry", he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "but some pokemon got my cap and I need to identify it. Maybe then I'll know how to get it back."

"Why didn't you just say so?"

Before Kyohei could oppose, the older trainer crawled to the entrance of the tent and peeked out. After a short while he looked back in and faced the rookie with a still slightly sleepy look on his features.

"It's a sewaddle", he explained as he simply fell back on his pillows. The rest came out as a mumble from the midst of covers. "Part bug-, part grass-type. They're not mighty powerful but once they evolve, they're pretty useful. You should try catching it."

Kyohei blinked and thought about it, then digging an empty pokeball from his bag. He was just about to crawl back out when he froze, turning to look at Touya.

"...I still don't know how to catch pokemon."

He gained a slightly frustrated huff from the older trainer. The former champion sat up again and pouted.

"Fine. I'll teach you. Just wait until I get my jacket on. It seems like it might be cold outside."

Kyohei waited outside for Touya to pull on his jacket and get ready. He kept on glancing at the sewaddle, worried that the pokemon might ruin his cap if they didn't hurry. Luckily his mentor soon appeared outside, yawning and stretching his arms. The caterpillar in the tree opened its eyes, blinking and starting to observe the two humans standing below.

"Okay then", Touya started his advising. "You're going to have to weaken him a little before you can catch him. You have your tepig?"

Kyohei stared at the older male in utter confusion. The teacher facepalmed at his student and sighed deeply.

"You don't even know the basics... Arceus, how were you going to survive traveling on your own?"

"Shut up, you sound like my mom", the rookie muttered with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. "Uh... is it completely necessary to use tepig?"

"It'd be easier", Touya said. "But I guess you could try using your eevee. That is if she listens to you."

Both of the chocolate eyes turned towards the silver ball of fur that was now scratching its ear with one of its paws. Upon being stared at, she froze and shot a suspicious glare at the two trainers. Kyohei knelt before the pokemon as if to get on the same height level with her before smiling a little and speaking.

"Hey", he tried cheerfully. "Could you help me out a little, buddy?"

The eevee kept on staring at the rookie. Hopeful to get some cooperation, he pointed at the bug-type in the tree.

"Could you get that down for me?"

The pair of sapphire orbs squinted half shut in a nearly annoyed manner. The eevee turned its head away from Kyohei, swinging its tail in front of the boy's face. The trainer pouted a couple seconds before smirking.

"...what, are you too weak to do that?"

He immediately got the normal-type's attention. It seemed to understand the words and it did not like them. For a while it only glared at Kyohei, annoyed, then turning around enough to quickly clamp his teeth around the boy's nose. The rookie cried out in pain and held the bitten spot, forgetting to follow what the eevee was doing. While the trainer was rolling on the ground on his stomach in pain, the silver furred pokemon walked to the tree in which the sewaddle was hiding and hit its head against the branch. The tree shook slightly and in a matter of second the caterpillar fell on the ground, stunned by the fall. The eevee then almost like smirked at Kyohei and brought the boy's cap to Touya, who watched this all with great curiosity and awe.

"...now that was rare", he murmured to himself, shaking his head and rushing to help Kyohei.

Luckily the rookie had already recovered. He took his cap from Touya and shot a grudging look at the injured eevee, then just rolling his eyes and turning towards the still stunned bug-type. He hesitated for a couple seconds before he at last threw the empty pokeball towards the sewaddle. It hit the side of the pokemon's head and with a small flash the caterpillar disappeared within the ball. There was a tense moment when Kyohei waited for the ball to stop nudging on the grass. As it finally stopped, Touya patted the boy's shoulder.

"Congrats. You caught your first pokemon by yourself."

That was when the party started. Kyohei let out a cheerful scream of victory, pumping his fist in the air and jumping up in the air. He rushed to the ball, grabbing it in his hand and dancing around in utter happiness, only gaining another facepalm from Touya doing so. Before Kyohei could stop himself, he had bumped his back against something. Or rather someone. That someone seemed startled by the sudden collision and nearly fell on the ground at the impact but luckily soon regained his balance and shot an angry glare at Kyohei. The rookie muttered a couple apologies and looked up at the person, whom he immediately recognized. That nearly afro-like, fluffy dark blue hair couldn't be mistaken.

"...Hugh?"

Hugh merely stood there, murmuring something inaudible grumpily and stepping further away from Kyohei. His scarlet eyes observed the rookie brunette in front of him, then turning to glance at Touya. He greeted them both with a nod, then turning towards Kyohei with some curiosity.

"You've already gotten this far, I see."

"Uh... yeah", the brunette replied. "As are you."

"I take it you just caught your first pokemon", Hugh then added. He frowned a little and glanced at the eevee that was now proudly sitting at the entrance of the tent. "...or am I wrong?"

"I'm just taking care of her", Kyohei mumbled. "Yeah, this is my first capture."

There was a short, tense silence.

"Then", Hugh suggested. "How about a battle to test out that new companion of yours?"

* * *

A/N: Ugh... I know I promised Hugh in this chapter but his screen time is yet quite minimal. xD I promise some more about him in the next chapter. Damn sewaddle eating Hugh's screen time...

Thanks again for being patient and for taking time and reading this fanfic. So far I've been pretty satisfied with how it's turned out and I hope it'll satisfy your daily fanfic needs as well~

Ah... and is it just me or does Blacksquareshipping/Tokyou get way too little love? D:


	14. Chapter 14

"_The greatest hatred, like the greatest virtue and the worst dogs, is silent."_

~Jean Paul Richter

Despite Touya's efforts in trying to talk the two guys out of it, in the end a battle ensued. The older brunette was still lucky enough to get Kyohei to at least give his new sewaddle a potion before sending it out to battle. The caterpillar was, to say the least, reluctant towards the whole idea of battling a well trained oshawott, but Touya couldn't blame him seeing that the rookie made a huge mistake in the very start. A huge mistake in the form of the following words:

"Okay, sewaddle! You're a part grass-type, right? So show me a nice Razor Leaf!"

There was a short, awkward silence. Touya simply facepalmed at what was happening, chuckling with slight amusement. That kid sure had a long way to go. The pokemon to whom the ridiculous command had been directed stood frozen in place, confused. You could almost see the question marks popping in the air all around his tiny little head. In a matter of moments the bug gave up trying to figure out what it had been told and it resumed to its previous search for food, ignoring the trainers around this. This elected some more laughter from both Touya and the eevee who were now both nearly rolling on the ground with laughter. Hugh, however, didn't seem equally amused. In fact he gave out an annoyed sigh as he called his oshawott back in its pokeball.

"...I think I'll let you train with your team some more before I challenge you", he muttered. "Seems like you have a lot of catching up to do to keep up with me."

Apparently Hugh wasn't the only one annoyed by the situation. Kyohei shot and angry glare at Touya, then at the eevee and lastly the sewaddle that was now munching on the corner of their tent. He then eyed Hugh, a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

"...I can still fight", he muttered. Yet the red eyed young man refused.

"I would have an unfair advantage against you if we battled. You seriously need to toughen up your team", he spoke darkly. "Or do you want them taken away from you?"

"No way", Kyohei murmured and scratched his head, lowering his gaze. "I... I'll get the hang of it soon. Just give me some time and I'll prove myself worthy."

But Hugh was no longer listening. Touya had now caught his attention and he eyed the stranger with utmost curiosity.

"And who might you be?" he asked the still giggling brunette. Touya forced his laughter to an end and glanced at the blue haired trainer.

"I'm Touya", he replied to the question, offering his hand for a formal handshake. Hugh held his hand without hesitation. "You must be Hugh. Kyo here mentioned you to me a couple times."

"Is that so?"

A short moment of tense silence. Touya rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Kyohei who glanced at Hugh.

"So uhm... you had breakfast yet?" the younger brunette asked his neighbor with a smirk. "We just woke up and we could get you some if you're hungry."

"Breakfast?" Hugh questioned in confusion. "It's almost noon already. I was just planning to head to Floccesy for some lunch."

"It sure doesn't look like noon", Touya commented with a mutter.

"And you say 'noon' like it's actually late", Kyohei noted. "How goddamn early do you even wake up, Hugh?"

"I have things to do", the trainer replied with a snort and positioned his bag more comfortably on his shoulders. "So, unlike some people, I wake up early."

A wave of bitterness washed throughout the camp. Kyohei just lowered his head with a bite on the lip while Touya shot an angry glare at Hugh who didn't seem to give a shit. The messy haired bluenette merely shrugged a little.

"I'm going now", he announced and waved his hand to Kyohei mostly as a goodbye. "See you around. Enjoy your breakfast."

And with that he walked away, soon disappearing in the fog. As soon as his figure could no longer be seen Touya hit Kyohei with his elbow to get the boy back on earth. The rookie flinched for a second before getting the message and calling his sewaddle back in his pokeball. He sat on the moist grass next to his mentor and sighed deeply.

"What did I do wrong?"

"First of all: don't be reckless when it comes to battles. Always make sure none of your team mates are injured before beginning", Touya started. "Secondly: that's a young sewaddle. A baby, it seems. Sewaddles learn Razor Leaf as they grow up. They aren't born with the talent. The more you train him, more quickly he'll learn it."

"Oh..."

Eventually Touya started searching his bag for something to have for breakfast. Too bad he appeared to be running low with food supplies seeing that he could only find a couple bottles of lemonade, one can of soda pop, some leftover candy and some pokefood. He threw one of the lemonades for Kyohei who thanked him with a wide grin, stating:

"Arceus bless living without parents."

After a while of them munching down a rather "healthy" breakfast consisting candy bars and lemonade, Touya spoke.

"Why do you let Hugh treat you like that, by the way?"

The younger brunette bit his lip and looked away smiling a hint sorrowfully.

"Because I deserve it. I caused great pain for his whole family with my selfishness."

"You were just a kid. You couldn't have known."

"It's still my fault."

"It's not a reason to be treated that horribly."

Kyohei let out a deep sigh and turned to look at his eevee. The silver ball of fur was lazily laying on its stomach near the tree the sewaddle had climbed in and seemed relaxed and carefree. He then took a look at the pokeball of his newest catch that he was still holding in his hand. Noticing the disappointment in his eyes, Touya smiled at the rookie.

"Hey, don't worry", he hummed. "You said it yourself. You'll get the hang of it soon enough."

"It'll take forever", Kyohei murmured grumpily and pouted. "Hugh will forever look down on me if this goes on."

Touya laughed at the childlike face the younger guy was making and patted his shoulder.

"That's just more reason for you to train like hell today, right?"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the lateness, my Internet connection has been rather cranky lately. :c

In other news: I'm gonna write some cutesy wutesy lemon about Blacksquareshipping for a contest in dA. I'm going to upload it here as well when it's done, so stay tune for that if you're interested. xD


	15. Chapter 15

"_The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one." _

~Margaret Atwood

The day progressed nicely along with Kyohei's new team mate's training. The sewaddle he had caught grew stronger rather quickly and it seemed to even make friends with the rookie's tepig. Together the two of them and their trainer won several battles on their way towards Floccesy Ranch, which was surprising thinking that usually people wouldn't go out if the weather was like this. Kyohei didn't mind the practice however and neither did Touya. The older brunette merely watched the younger one battle from a little afar and always took care that his pokemon were properly healed afterward.

In the end they reached the ranch well before dark. The change in the surroundings was significant – even though the river was running not far away from the place there was just a little fog compared to route 120. By then Kyohei's eevee had already gotten bored with walking and was sitting on top of the brunette's head. The weight was starting to give the younger boy some aches so he suggested they take a brake.

"And not a minute too soon", Touya sighed and sat down in the middle of a small field of long, green hay that grew near the river bench. "I'm starving."

"We don't have much food, do we?" Kyohei sighed and lifted the normal-type off of his head, putting it on the grass next to the older brunette. He stretched a little and glanced at the rest of his team. His tepig still seemed energetic and his sewaddle was just as lost in thought as ever. "Should we get a shortcut back to town or something? You know, to get some food?"

"I don't know. I guess we could try to ask if the owner of the ranch could give us leftovers."

Kyohei sat down as well and rubbed the back of his neck. He seemed a bit uneasy about the idea and was showing it much more clearly than he wanted to. Touya laughed at this.

"What, are you scared of the owner?" he asked, amused.

"I'm not", Kyohei replied immediately and pouted slightly. "I just don't know the guy so begging for food seems... degrading."

"Implying a brat like you has any dignity", Touya joked. He gained an angry glare from his student's chocolate eyes in response.

"Gee, thanks grandpa", the messy-haired trainer growled, making Touya smirk by doing so.

"You're so cute when you're mad", he hummed happily.

"You're saying that like I was a girl."

"You aren't?"

In a matter of seconds Kyohei had tackled his mentor on the ground and pinned him so that he couldn't move. Despite the fact that he had just been insulted he was grinning. For it was but friendly teasing that meant no harm and he knew it. Touya laughed below the younger trainer, a hint of surprise in his brown eyes as he struggled to get free.

"You and I both know I'm not a girl. I'm not even close to being one", Kyohei chuckled. "Or shall I prove it to you?"

The mentor smirked mockingly and swiped Kyohei off his feet with a single swing of foot. The rookie fell on top of Touya and the older brunette used this for his advantage, rolling on top of the other.

"Well you sure aren't a man either", he chirped. "A man is never that weak."

"Oh yeah? You're calling THIS weak?"

And yet another wrestling match had begun. The two trainers rolled around in the grass and slowly approached the edge of water as they did so. They didn't even notice the river getting closer before Kyohei's tepig let out a noise of warning, trying to message its trainer that something bad was about to happen. By then it was already too late though and before the fight came to a halt, Touya and Kyohei already found themselves in the river. The younger one of the brunettes muttered curses while the older one just laughed, although shivering at the feeling of the cold water surrounding them.

"This is your fault", Kyohei growled, half annoyed, half amused. His mentor grinned.

"Says the one who started the actual fight."

"Whatever. Let's just get out before we catch a cold."

As soon as they had crawled their way out of the water Kyohei's tepig ran to check on his owner. The younger trainer muttered a couple words of assurance to his starter and petted it a little. The fire-type made a face at the wetness of the touch but didn't complain either. Touya sighed at his completely drenched clothes and was just about to call out his swanna to blow off most of the moistness when a figure appeared from the fog ahead.

"Oh my... I thought I'd heard something", a woman voice pondered out loud as a lady with light brown hair stepped close enough to see. She was wearing a green cap and seemed a hint surprised to see the two trainers laying wet on the grass.

Kyohei smiled nervously and greeted the woman with a hint of hesitance.

"Hi. I'm sorry if we scared you or something like that... we were just passing by", he spoke. The woman lifted his eyebrow at the words and seemed to be thinking.

"Oh, I wasn't bothered by you at all. I just heard a splash and got a little worried so I headed here to check if everything was okay", she stated. "You sweethearts okay there? You're gonna get sick if you don't get somewhere warm soon."

Touya opened his mouth to reply but Kyohei spoke first.

"We'll be fine, miss."

"It's actually Mrs.", the woman corrected with a smile. "But I'll take that as a compliment. I'm the wife of the owner of this ranch and my name is Lisbeth. Would you two like to get in and get some nice hot soup to warm you up? I was just going to start making dinner."

The older brunette smirked in a slightly victorious manner and replied for the both of them.

"That would be wonderful, Mrs. Lisbeth."

The ranch owner's house wasn't particularly big but it was warm and comfy. As soon as all the three got in, Lisbeth ran off to get the boys some towels to wrap under. Touya and Kyohei used the moment of silence to look around. Or at least Touya did so while Kyohei called his pokemon back in their pokeballs. It didn't take long until Lisbeth returned with two pure white towels and a herdier that was glaring at the visitors in an alarmed manner. Lisbeth smiled at the boys and gestured them to come further in.

"And don't mind old herdier here", she said. "He's a guard around the ranch so he's always a little suspicious about visitors."

They were at first lead to the bathroom to change clothes. Both Touya and Kyohei thanked the woman for the spare clothes she was offering but refused as they had some of their own in their bags. Lisbeth let them have the bathroom all for themselves for as long a time as they needed to change clothes and told them to find the living room when they're done. Kyohei sighed as he closed the bathroom door and locked it, then starting to remove his shirt without a droplet of shame. Touya, however, stood in the corner of the room and seemed awkward somehow.

"What are you so embarrassed about?" Kyohei asked as he noticed how the other was acting. "I was the one who was about to refuse the help. You were the one who said that we needed some."

"It's not that", the older guy murmured and dried his hair on the towel. "I'm just not comfortable taking my clothes off in front of someone."

The rookie chuckled.

"Dude. We're both men. What's the problem?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

There was a momentary silence as Kyohei observed Touya with his eyes. The older guy was seemingly nervous and looked away, only strengthening the rookie's curiosity doing so. At last Kyohei let out a deep sigh.

"You can trust me, okay?" he said. "Whatever you're hiding there can't be horrible enough to shake me. Besides I'm not a tattle-tale."

"I've trusted you with a lot of information on me already", Touya replied silently. "I do trust you. I'm just... really insecure. So could you please just turn around when I change?"

The begging tone in the older one's voice was enough to break the rookie. Kyohei turned around to face the wall while Touya dressed up, his curiosity screaming inside his head. Damn that mysteriousness. The messy-haired brunette wasn't certain how much longer he could hold his curiosity down with such a strange and secretive person around.

He'd have to wait and see.

* * *

A/N: Not the best chapter I've written. I'm not all that satisfied with this one... But seeing that Touya's secrets and mysteriousness are both important plot points in this fic, it had to be done.

Cheren will make appearance soon and for those who are waiting for some more or less romantic interaction between Touya and Kyo... I'm happy to announce that it won't take long until that starts happening. Not long until they reach Virbank and Castelia and that's when the fun starts. xP

Thank you again for your reviews! I hope you keep enjoying this fic~


	16. Chapter 16

_Kindness is like a magical teardrop falling into a polluted ocean. You wouldn't often see a single drop of water cleansing the whole sea, for it's usually that single drop of water that causes the pollution in the first place."_

~Unknown

After a quick changing process the boys headed to the living room as they had been told to do. The room was small but cozy and the herdier that had greeted them at the door was now laying next to the sofa and appeared to be asleep. Upon closer investigation Touya noted that the normal-type slept with one eye open. Literally. He frowned a little at his own foundation but sat on the couch nevertheless, soon accompanied by Kyohei. The two of them could hear Lisbeth humming in the kitchen nearby. She was probably preparing the dinner she had mentioned earlier. The two pairs of chocolate eyes roamed around the room curiously, both smiling at how much of a cliché the room looked like what with tons of books, a fireplace, walls painted with warm colors and a furry red mat that seemed comfortable enough to be slept on. Kyohei was slowly starting to relax. Maybe accepting the help of these people wasn't such a great shame after all.

In around twenty minutes or so Lisbeth called the boys out to have lunch with her. The boys went to the kitchen without hesitance. The delicious smell of cooked meat had tormented them for a good while now. Much like the living room, the kitchen was ridiculously comfy-looking and country-like. Lisbeth was already sitting at the table, gesturing the two trainers to have a seat as well.

"Are your pokemon hungry?" she asked. "I could get them some food as well."

Both brunettes shook their heads. They both had fed their teams earlier on and none of them seemed particularly hungry anyways. Kyohei's eevee opposed its trainer's reply however and walked over to Lisbeth, wagging her tail at the woman. The ranch keeper's wife smiled and lowered herself enough to pet the normal-type.

"This little girl seems to be the only one you didn't return to its ball. Does she not like pokeballs?"

"So it seems", Kyohei sighed. "Plus she has some injuries that need to be healed properly. Running around will help her stay fit even when she's still a patient."

"Ah, I noticed... What happened to her?"

"A bunch of patrats attacked her in the woods near Aspertia", Touya explained. "Poor thing was probably abandoned. We're helping her out for the time being."

"Why, that is very sweet of you!"

The dinner appeared to be some sort of soup with meat and vegetables in it. It tasted just as good as it smelled and left both Kyohei and Touya satisfied. Lisbeth was already pondering whether she should make some dessert for her guests when they all heard the door open.

"That's probably my husband", Lisbeth hummed with a cute smile that was soon returned by a man who stepped in the kitchen. The man had black hair and a beard. His clothes were a bit messy with dirt and other substances from the nature but he didn't seem bothered by it. Instead he gave a curious glance at the visitors, then looking at Lisbeth.

"You should have called me to tell we have guests", he laughed out. "Look at me being all muddy with people around!"

The woman shook her head in amusement and walked over to her husband, kissing him on the cheek.

"You should probably go change if you're feeling embarrassed about it."

"I will. And I'll probably take a shower while I'm at it", the man replied and waved his hand at Kyohei and Touya. "Do stay a while longer if you're not in a hurry. It's nice to have outsiders to chat with every now and then."

With that the man left. Lisbeth lingered at the doorway for a moment before turning around and looking at the two brunettes.

"That was my husband, Carl. We take terms taking care of the pokemon in the ranch grounds. Today was his turn", she explained and placed her hands on her hips. A slight grin curved her lips. "So... would you two cuties mind telling me your names? And if you have any wishes for the dessert, just tell me."

Touya spoke up before Kyohei could even open his mouth.

"My name is Touya and this here is Kyohei. We're traveling together."

"I see... have you both just started your journey? If that's the case then you simply must check out the ranch grounds. You could end up catching some really strong team members."

"I'm still a beginner", Kyohei quickly stated. "Touya is my mentor. He's way more experienced than I am. And thank you for the hint but I already have my hands full with three pokemon."

Lisbeth started investigating the shelves for proper ingredients for a dessert.

"I get it. Must be tough for a newbie to take care of an injured pokemon... not to mention a shiny. They tend to be quite rash."

There was a momentary silence as Kyohei and Touya looked at each other with confusion.

"...a shiny?" Kyohei asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Hm? You haven't heard of shinies?" Lisbeth questioned and glanced up at the boys. "They're basically pokemon with extraordinary colors. Colors often a bit brighter than the ones most of the species have. A shiny growlithe, for example, is yellowish while the usual color scheme they have is orange."

"Are they common?"

"Nope. More like ultra rare. You're lucky if you can meet with one in a lifetime", Lisbeth continued. "They're not all that different from the ones that are normal. The only difference is that they often have this somewhat sparkly aura around them as well as the uncommon colors. Sometimes they're a bit harder to train as well but that isn't always the case."

Kyohei frowned, his eyes lingering on the silvery ball of fur that was now sitting near his right foot. It didn't make any sense. If the pokemon really was that rare, how could anyone abandon it? Maybe something bad had happened to the eevee's former trainer? Touya noticed the look in the boy's eyes and patted his shoulder to indicate that they would settle this, no matter what. Lisbeth happened to glance at the boys just then to see what was making them go this silent and saw the gesture, smirking a little.

"You two known each other for long?"

Touya flinched a little.

"Not for more than a couple days or so."

"You seem rather close though."

It was Kyohei's turn to flinch.

"E-excuse me?" the messy-haired boy asked in a bit of confusion. The woman just smiled and turned her head away, grabbing a bag of flour.

"Just saying that you look pretty close despite the shortness of your relationship. It's adorable to see two people getting along that well."

"We... uh..."

Luckily the guys didn't have time to become any more confused. Carl stepped into the kitchen and smiled at the guests heartfully, sitting on the chair which Lisbeth had sat on not long ago.

"Okay then. Maybe now I look formal enough for an introduction. I'm Carl", he told and offered his hand to the boys. "Where are you kids from?"

"Aspertia."

"Nuvema."

Carl seemed surprised for a second.

"All the way from Nuvema? Wow, you must have traveled quite a lot", he commented. "You battle?"

"I used to", Touya replied quietly. "Nowadays I pretty much just travel around."

"Unova is such a beautiful region, don't you think?" Carl hummed. "So much places worth seeing and people worth meeting... not to mention the pokemon."

"Yeah..."

* * *

A/N: Nothing much happening here... boring chapter. xDDD Sorry.


	17. Chapter 17

_Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."_

~Buddha

Despite the ranch couples efforts in making their guests stay overnight, the two trainers ended up leaving before nightfall. The sun was already setting as the rookie and his mentor headed towards Floccesy once more, both still smiling due to the kindness of Lisbeth and Carl.

"They're really nice people", Kyohei hummed as he skipped over a ledge. They were taking a shortcut back town through a field that was covered with autumn leaves. Being the taller and heavier one out of the two, Touya was a hint uncertain about the path they were taking. He feared he might have his foot stuck in a hole hidden by the leaves if he wasn't careful.

"Agreed", the older guy replied, his chocolate eyes still glued on the ground and where he was stepping. "The world needs more people like that."

Unlike Touya's steps, Kyohei's steps were firm and fearless. He was practically dancing his way through the leaves, every now and then gazing at the surroundings and every now and then at his mentor.

"You've traveled a lot", he stated with curiosity. "Haven't you met other people as nice?"

"Just a few", came the reply. "While not all people are quite that friendly towards strangers, most are still ready to help a person in need."

"You're probably right", Kyohei hummed. "Tell me more about your journey."

"It's nothing to brag about", Touya laughed out and rubbed the back of his neck. For a moment he forgot to be careful and ended up falling on the ground face first as he did indeed get his foot stuck in a hole on the ground. The older trainer let out a sharp yelp and Kyohei instantly turned around, chuckling lightly at the sight.

"You okay there?" he then asked and lent Touya a hand. His mentor muttered a couple curses and took a hold of the messy-haired teen's hand, pulling himself up.

For the rest of the way back to Floccesy Kyohei decided not to pester his companion with questions. Instead they walked in silence, admiring the beauty of the sunset in autumn as well as breathing in the fresh evening air. By the time they got back to the town the sun was long gone and darkness had covered the region. Kyohei let out a yawn, stretching his arms.

"I wonder if there's any open beds left in the Pokemon Center", he thought out loud. Touya responded him with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure they do seeing that this place is pretty far away from the common Unova attractions", he told. "Besides, it's-"

Without being even able to finish his sentence the Nuvema boy froze in his place, chocolate eyes widening in a shock. Kyohei glanced at the older male in confusion and waved hand in front of him to see if his mentor would react. He frowned as he didn't and averted his gaze to the same direction that Touya was looking. There were two people standing ten meters away or so, one whom Kyohei easily recognized to be Hugh and the other some slightly taller man with black hair and tidy, office worker -like clothes. A single strand of hair was standing out in the middle of the otherwise cleanly combed hair making a slight curl in the air above the mans hair and looking a hint like an antenna of sorts. He and Hugh appeared to be talking about something but Kyohei couldn't make out the words due to distance.

The younger brunette's eyebrows knitted and he looked at his mentor once again, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong. Before he could form words, however, Touya spun around on his heels in a manner that was screaming escape. Kyohei let out a sharp yelp "hey" and grabbed the other man's arm, stopping him. The older guy tried to pull away but soon gave up, shooting a panicking glance at his restraint.

"Let me go", he mumbled under his breath but only gained a tighter grip on his arm.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Kyohei yelled at him. "At least explain what's going on before running off like that!"

Touya bit his lip in distress and turned slightly to see the two people talking in the distance to check if they were still occupied. Luckily they were but Touya could see the taller man shooting suspicious glares at the brunettes from the corner of his eye.

"Kyo, please! I can't-!"

"No way!"

The shout echoed lightly in the nearly empty heart of the town like an awkward call. After it disappeared it became painfully silent. Touya could hear that the two other people had now stopped talking and much to his horror could as well hear a pair of footsteps approaching.

"Is there a problem?" a familiar, stern voice questioned the two trainers and Touya shuddered. He tried to meet his eyes with Kyohei's ones to try and tell him to make the black haired man go away but it was too late.

"N-not at all. We're just fine", the younger brunette mumbled with a hint of embarrassment. "Right, Touya?"

It was almost like time had stopped right at that place. The group of people just all stared at each other, the black haired man with what seemed to Kyohei like slight horror. The rookie bit his lip and glanced at Touya with an apologizing look. He just felt like he had done something wrong. Or that was at least how the defeated emotion on the former champion's face made him think. The mentor let out a smallest sigh and slowly lifted his eyes up, turning around to meet the eyes of the black haired man in a short moment that felt like an eternity. He even managed to force a faint, crooked smile on his lips.

"It's been a long time, Cheren."

And with that the moment was shattered. The man, Cheren as he had been called, snapped out of his trance as rage filled his cold gray eyes. In a matter of seconds he stepped forth, his hands forming into fists. Before Kyohei could even react properly the man had already punched his companion in the face as hard as he could. Touya flinched at the pain and stumbled a couple steps backwards, soon followed by Cheren who grabbed the collar of his jacket before he fell on the ground. Another punch. This time in the guts. Touya gritted his teeth and grunted but didn't even bother to try and protect himself. Not that he had to since before Cheren could choose where to punch the older brunette next, Kyohei dashed for his rescue together with Hugh and pulled the furious man off of him.

That didn't stop Cheren from shouting though.

"Is that all you have to say, Touya Fucking Black?! 'It's been a long time'?! IS THAT ALL?! We were all worried dead for your safety! We thought you were dead, for Arceus' sake! And all you have to say after all these years is 'it's been a long time'?!"

"Calm down, sir!" Hugh tried to mumble but the man ignored the words, struggling to get free. Touya had fallen on the ground and was now attempting to rise back up, his eyes avoiding Cheren's furious gaze.

"There were some complications..." he muttered.

Cheren laughed out unhappily.

"Complications, eh? Well that settles it all! You had 'some complications'! Is that what you told your mother before you disappeared into thin air?! What about Bianca?! She cried after you for months! Do you know what it feels like to watch someone you love cry every day?!"

"I didn't think it would be like that", Touya replied in defense.

"Think?! What did you think it would be like?! Flowers and rainbows and purrloins everywhere?! You don't think quite that much, do you, Touya?"

Somehow Cheren managed to pull himself off of Hugh's and Kyohei's grip. For everyone's great surprise he didn't go over to Touya anymore but instead reached a pokeball from one of his pockets. With a lightning-like flash an enormous pokemon materialized in front of the man. A fire-type that resembled a pig and stood on two strong feet, a ring of fire circling the grumpy face that was located on the top of its round egg-shaped body. The pokemon let out a low growl, stomping the ground under its feet in excitement. It was clear that it didn't get out that often. As Touya stared at the fire-type in slight confusion, Cheren took a deep breath and clenched his hands into fists.

"Let's settle this. Battle me. Like we used to battle."

There was a tense silence. Touya looked away so that his face was hidden behind his chocolate locks of hair.

"I don't battle anymore."

"Don't be ridiculous", Cheren hissed. "You're the champion! Of course you battle."

"You know as well as I do that I haven't been the champion for a long while."

"That just proves you're a coward running from your responsibilities. Nothing more", Cheren muttered angrily. "You reached the dream over a half of the youth in Unova strive for and you let it slip away from you. Not to mention you hid away from your friends and your family! All of Unova bowed before you as a hero yet all you do is run!"

"I NEVER WANTED TO BE A PART OF IT!"

Touya's sudden outburst caused Cheren to go quiet for a while. His emboar moved in discomfort, glancing at his trainer and waiting for orders. Kyohei stared at his mentor in a shock and couldn't help but feel his heart ache for the older brunette. He looked so... pained.

"Do you really think I wanted to be the hero?" the former champion cried out. "Do you really think I wanted the whole of Unova relying on me? No, Cheren. I didn't want any of that. It might sound like a dream come true but it was nothing like that. All I wanted... all I wanted was to be with my team and travel, see the world. Nobody wants their destiny to be written ready for them. I'm not an exception."

Cheren narrowed his eyes.

"Then why did you-?!"

"Because everyone was counting on me!"

There was a momentary silence. Kyohei didn't really know what was going and what the older males were talking about but he wanted to help his mentor out. No matter what Touya might have done to that man in the past, no one should hear their friend say such hurtful things to them. No one. He had experienced similar with Hugh back as a kid and knew how bad it felt. Without a single drop of hesitance, Kyohei stepped in front of Touya, hiding him away from Cheren and glaring at the said man with utmost rage.

"That's enough. Shut up", he stated firmly.

"You could have just-"

"I said SHUT UP!"

Cheren didn't seem the least bit pleased by this interruption. He stayed still though, gritting his teeth and taking a deep breath. Hugh, who stood in the background didn't seem that happy either.

"Stop meddling into other people's business, Kyo!" he shouted at the boy. "Get away from there. Now."

"This is not just their business", Kyohei growled back. "Touya is my friend and won't allow anyone to yell at him with such a tone."

"What are you, his white knight?" the crimson-eyed guy laughed out. "Stop it. You'll get yourself hurt."

The rookie trainer blushed a little at the words "white knight" but remained determined either way. Instead he directed his attention towards Cheren.

"I take the challenge", he said. "I'll battle you."

* * *

A/N: Some long needed action.

I'm still just as flattered for getting new followers as I was when I first started this fic... Seriously guys, thank you. You're all so sweet. :3

I'd also appreciate it very much if you gave me critique if you think there's anything I should add to the story or any annoying grammar mistakes and such. Don't be shy, I'm just happy you bothered to read this story! :D


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